Criminal Cat Costs Florida Town Thousands In Damages After Shelter Destruction
A feisty Florida feline made headlines this week after authorities discovered she was responsible for thousands of dollars in water damage inflicted on the small town of Pompano Beach.
Authorities have already called off their investigation, but the paw prints lead directly to a six-month-old kitten who apparently turned on a Human Society shelter’s water faucet and left it running for 17 hours.
Neighbors called the shelter president Carol Ebert at 7:15 in the morning when they saw a flood of water flowing out the shelter’s back doors last Thursday.
The suspect kitten is known for her love of water, but when volunteers first saw the flood flowing out their shelter doors, they didn’t even suspect her; they thought they were dealing with a burst water pipe.
A cat's game is costing a Florida animal shelter $5,000: https://t.co/uBolHSwaom (@MiamiHerald)
— Chris Peralta (@veryChrisP) June 29, 2016
Only after closer investigation did they find that the feisty feline had turned on a water faucet and flooded the shelter; her companion cats fled to safety on higher ground and remained unharmed by the rising water.
None of the shelter cats confessed, but volunteers were quick to identify the culprit who has been known to play in sinks; the Humane Society hasn’t released the identity of the cat culprit, volunteer Terry Arbour told the Miami Herald.
“We can’t be sure which cat did it, because we don’t have cameras in there, but we have a good idea because there was one younger female cat who really liked playing in sinks.
“There was a tall spout in that sink that moves around, and the cat somehow was able to turn it on. It’s possible there was collusion from others, but she probably had something to do with it.”
The six-month-old cat purred its way out of trouble and has already been adopted, but shelter volunteers warned her new owner to keep her away from water faucets, according to the Miami Herald.
“This cat is intelligent enough to turn on water faucets.”
The rising flood waters left three to four inches of standing water and damaged floors, cabinets, and walls in eight rooms of the Humane Society shelter. A large amount of cat food and cat litter was also lost and damage estimates place losses at about $5,000.
Some of the cats had to be relocated while repairs were completed on the shelter, but none were injured in the flood. All cat and kitten cages are kept up high and were out of reach of the water; some cats were found sleeping on high countertops and sleeping perches, according to the Miami Herald.
“It’s quite a mess. And we can’t imagine what our next water bill is going to look like.”
The Pompano Beach shelter is seeking donations and forever homes for the cats left at the shelter.
Meanwhile, animal lovers on the West Coast are encouraged to contact the San Francisco SPCA to help dogs rescued from a South Korean canine meat farm. More than 170 dogs were rescued from Wonju canine meat farms by the Humane Society International in May and were taken in by emergency placement centers in San Francisco and across the country. Some few still remain and are waiting for their forever homes.
Originally raised on dog meat farms, these rescued pups are now looking for their forever homes.https://t.co/fuTk51G876
— Splinter (@splinter_news) May 27, 2016
The Humane Society International has helped five South Korean dog farmers get out of the business and start growing crops like blueberries, according to USA Today.
“Almost every farmer we’ve spoken to doesn’t want to be in the business, most never planned to go into the business, but feel really trapped in it.”
[Photo credit: Natalya Rozhkova/Shutterstock]
