The "hell house of Teltow", home to as many as 93 severely neglected cats. Their owner is an animal hoarder, meaning that she suffers from a compulsive disorder which causes her keep an unusually high number of animals as domestic pets without the ability to house or care for them appropriately. As a result, the animals were freely breeding inside the whole, whilst living in uninhabitable conditions.
Discover our latest podcast
Bacterial infection and disease
Almost all of the cats which were held in captivity in the house were found to be in poor health condition on discovery made by police officers. Many had been affected by parasitic and infectious diseases, including salmonella. This means that this can be a potential risk not only to other animals, but to humans as well. Once the cats have been treated, they can then be put up for adoption. Fordon Ebeling, German veterinarian now has the rescued animals in care until further recovery: "Four of the adult cats have been suffering from ascites, which means that they have a high accumulation of fluid between the abdomen and the organs. Unfortunately, they had to be euthanised as a result," Ebeling explains. Six more kittens were so weakened by the infectious diseases, that they did not survive the ordeal.
Consequences and punishment
It was found that the hoarder responsible kept a total of 37 cats in a home in Berlin, earlier this summer. The rescued cats, 20 of which were found to be British shorthairs, are in a much better condition and many are in the process of socialisation. The cruel and careless acts of the animal hoarder are now being accounted for and they are now facing a ban, both against keeping and breeding animals.
