A drop-off of mostly sick cats over the weekend is taxing Tucsonโs Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter right as the facility tries to rebuild itself.
A rabbit cage full of mostly sick cats was left at the shelter Saturday, and then four more cats in two cages were dropped off Sunday.
Of the 10 cats in the rabbit cage, eight tested positive for feline leukemia or feline immunodeficiency virus, three tested positive for both and two of the cats might be pregnant, said Lee Bucyk, executive director of the shelter.
Bucyk said cats are abandoned at the shelter a few times each year. During the last year, for example, a plastic tub full of kittens was left outside the shelter and some of the animals died of exposure due to the cold. Abandoning an animal is a class 6 felony in Arizona, and the weekend abandonments are under investigation.
The recent abandonments are especially challenging because they have no existing space for the three animals with both of the viruses, she said.
โThat means we have to build a space inside our shelter just for those cats,โ she said.
Having such a high number of cats with special needs also limits their ability to take in animals from other organizations, she said, either in Pima County or from Pinal or Maricopa counties. Bucyk said the cats left on Saturday might have come from a hoarding situation, since they were underweight and sickly.
A $1 million campaign was started last year to rebuild the deteriorating shelter, which is funded entirely by private donations, Bucyk said.
Ward Six Councilmember Steve Kozachik said the abandoned animals exemplifies why spaying and neutering animals is so critical.
