The BC SPCA says it is investigating after an abandoned trailer in South Surrey was found to have several sick or dying cats inside.
Eileen Drever, the organization’s senior officer of protection and stakeholders relations, says the trailer was found on King George Highway on July 20.
“SPCA Animal Protection Officers applied for and executed a warrant to remove the cats from this trailer,” she told 1130 NewsRadio.
“The photographs of this trailer, they’re absolutely disgusting.”
Five cats were removed, one having to be euthanized because it was found to be in critical distress.
“The other cats were…emaciated, they were dehydrated, and they had muscle loss,” she said.
“They were also infested with fleas.”
Drever says the cats may have been living in the trailer for years.
“There’s inches and inches, if not feet, of feces piled up on the floor of the trailer,” she said.
They also had to remove five cats who had died.
The SPCA is hopeful that the surviving cats will recover so they can be re-homed, Drever said.
“It breaks my heart thinking of the cats that died in this environment,” she said. “There is no excuse for this. Absolutely none whatsoever.”
For now, the search for those responsible is ongoing, she says.
“If convicted, [they] could face up to a $75,000 fine and or up to a maximum of two years in prison and or a lifetime of prohibition of owning animals or caring for them,” she said.
Drever is asking anyone with any information to call the BC SPCA Animal Helpline at 1-855-622-7722.
— With files from Maria Vinca.
