On Tuesday, Sullivan County Humane Society of NH shared on Facebook the tragic story of 14 cats who were abandoned for more than 24 hours in a single medium-sized dog crate in temperatures as low as 17.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Sadly, 2 of the cats didn’t survive, and the remaining 12 are all battling upper respiratory infections along with other health issues. All will need to be spayed and neutered before they can be adopted out, and 3 need dental work done. Fortunately, one volunteer is fostering all 12 surviving cats while they recover from their horrific ordeal.
Luckily, the two people responsible for this horrific abuse have been found and charged with 14 counts of cruelty to animals. Tremont Street residents Dwaine Lord, 64, and Crystal Lamonda, 42 will be arraigned on January 8.
The horror of the situation when the cats first arrived at the shelter is best described using words from the actual Facebook post:
“The police arrived with one medium size dog crate. ONE crate. Our silence was shattered by the piercing, frantic screams of the cats inside. The repulsive odor of feces, urine and blood was such an overpowering stench that we all gagged. We immediately started the task of removing the cats from the crate. We pulled out the first few; they were covered in feces and soaking wet with blood and urine. We were able to wring their tails out and the disgusting filth just ran off of them…Each [cat] was underweight, had very thin hair, was filthy, and cold. We cleaned them up the best we could-our sink was full of feces and filthy, urine smelling bloody water. And then we did all we could to warm them up with volunteers each holding multiple cats wrapped in towels.”
If you’re up to it, the shelter has released a video with some of the terrible images from the horrific evening when the cats were rescued.
WARNING: THIS VIDEO MAY CONTAIN IMAGES THAT SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND DISTURBING. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
As you can imagine, the vet bills for these poor kitties have continued to rack up. Sullivan County Humane Society of NH is asking for help with these medical costs. To donate to the shelter itself, you can mail checks to SCHS PO Box 111 Claremont NH 03743 or via paypal using sullivanhumane@hotmail.com. To make a payment directly to the vet, please call 802-885-2505 or mail a check, denoting the SCHS abandoned 14 in the memo line, to Springfield Animal Hospital 346 River St Springfield VT 05156. A GoFundMe page has also been set up.
There is no word yet on when any of the cats (most of which are estimated to be 2-4 years of age) will be ready for adoption. Check out their Facebook page or website for more information on the “Abandoned 14.”