An animal rescue group based out of Sooke says it’s rescued more than 40 kittens from an abandoned home in Port Renfrew.
The rescue’s president says it stems from a hoarding situation.
“She called us and said ‘Margarita, can you help? He got evicted and left all the cats inside the house. They have no food, no nothing.’ And I said yes I will,” said Margarita Dominguez, president of Sooke Animal Food and Rescue Society (SAFARS).
Dominguez is currently taking care of 19 kittens along with four newborns, however, she says there are at least 44 kittens and cats. She also believes some of the cats are pregnant. At the moment, the other cats are at the abandoned home.
Dominguez says she’s left food out to gain the trust of the animals before she can trap them.
“We have to feed the cats every day in order to catch them. [Which takes] more or less 10 days or a week,” said Dominguez.
SAFARS says it wants to rescue all the cats at once, but due to bylaw restrictions within the district of Sooke she can’t.
There are no limits to how many kittens a person can own, but the district considers cats to be “over the age of four months.” A person is only allowed to own four cats at a time, if one owns more than four, they are considered to be a kennel which requires a license that Dominguez doesn’t have.
“Those cats sadly, we can’t bring them all because we have bylaws to obey,” said Dominguez.
SAFARS wants the bylaws to be updated and says it’s advocated for the change for years.
At the moment, Dominguez is rushing to gather funds for the proper medical procedures for the animals. She estimates that getting proper vaccinations along with fees would cost around $300 to $1,000 per kitten.
If you’re interested in donating or adopting one of the rescues, you can contact SAFARS at 778-352-2999 or via email at safars[email protected]. A gofundme page has also been set up and the link can be found here.
Oli Herrera
