Cat Collector: ​“I Was Afraid To Ask For Help”

The death of a parent. A promise to a friend. An abusive relationship. A limited support system. And a lifelong love of animals.

These circumstances led Patricia to a crisis point while trying to care for about 30 felines in her Branford home. The situation spiraled out of control, she said.

Patricia, whose name has been changed for this story, was the subject of a health department and animal shelter probe this summer, when authorities seized nearly 30 cats from her home. She shared her side of the story with the Eagle in a series of interviews.

“Everything I didn’t want to happen has happened,” Patricia said. ​“I was afraid to ask for help.” She said she wanted to ask for help two years ago.

Patricia spoke to the Eagle on the condition that her identity remain anonymous. We though it important to hear her story since only a small body of research examines hoarding from the viewpoint of the hoarder.

Her cats were seized in mid-August raid prompted by an anonymous complaint. Officials from the East Shore Health Department and Laura Burban, director of the Cosgrove Animal Shelter, spent the better part of a week rescuing all the cats and kitties. Burban described the house as flea infested and filthy.

Burban said that Patricia was cooperative from the beginning. She has since signed the cats over to the shelter so they can be adopted.

Patricia was offered the option of keeping three cats, but couldn’t decide which ones, so she gave up all of them.

“This was never intentional,” she said. ​“I truly loved every single one of them.”

More than a month after the rescue, Burban says she is still studying the case. Patricia is cooperating with authorities and so far she has not been charged.

Patricia may be facing animal cruelty charges and she is clearly devastated by the experience. Burban said no charges had been brought thus far. Under Connecticut law, any person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, tortures, wounds, or kills an animal faces a fine of up to $5,000, up to five years in prison or both (CGS 53 – 47). 

Patricia dates her love for animals to her childhood. ​“I’ve always been an animal lover and was always bringing something home when I was growing up in Hamden,” she said. Her father, to whom she was close, built a pen with a pool for the frogs and turtles caught while they were hiking in the woods and she set about learning all about them. She received a degree in biology and studied veterinary science before going into nursing.

She got her first cat when she was 8 years old, but went without pets for many years. She explained that she acquired a little orange cat when she was living at a local apartment complex about 25 years ago.

However, her feline family quickly snowballed. She acquired three cats from a feral colony at another apartment complex, a couple from a friend who was moving to Florida, a couple from a patient giving up her apartment, and others from a patient who had Alzheimer’s. She promised a friend dying of cancer that she would take her two cats. Up until a few years ago, they were all spayed and neutered, she stressed.

“I did say no,” Patricia said. ​“And I did find homes for some.”

But then the number of cats became overwhelming. 

To describe Patricia’s circumstances as hoarding may be a bit harsh; perhaps ​“collector” would be a more gracious term given the extent of her cooperation and her acknowledgment that her situation was out of control.

The distinction between a collector and a hoarder is that a collector has many animals, gets overwhelmed and tries to place the animals with others. Patricia said she repeatedly tried to place the cats but became discouraged. A hoarder believes that no one else can care for the animals as well as he or she does and makes no attempt to place them.

More dire conditions have been documented locally, including the seizure of more than 100 cats from a Westbrook house a few years ago and some 94 cats and kittens found in a bungalow in New Haven in 2006. And just recently, two cases were reported in Washington State involving 30 cats and 57 cats and one in Georgia with 127 cats.

Tufts University professor Gary J. Patronek, VMD, Ph.D., wrote the landmark paper, ​“The Problem of Animal Hoarding,” stating that hoarding is a psychological problem rather than one that is confined to age, class, gender or economics. However, Patronek found that 76 percent of collectors are female, and 46 percent are 60 years of age or older. Most are not married and more than half live alone. Patricia is 58, single and lives alone. Many present an outwardly normal appearance, leading double lives. Patricia holds a position as a nursing professional.

But unlike many in her position, she seems to realize that she was in over her head and is now trying to make amends by cooperating with town officials. She had been trying to clean up her house at the time animal control officers intervened and since then, neighbors have stepped in to give her a hand. Patricia is grateful for their help and plans on making a donation to their church. 

Burban acknowledged that Patricia was trying to be helpful in caring for the relinquished cats to the point of becoming overwhelmed. However, Burban said she’d ​“never seen such a case of fleas.” She added that the smell of ammonia permeated the house, mold was in the litter boxes and on the floors, and feces were scattered about.

Burban and the other animal control officers rescued 21 cats during the first week and several more were picked up the following week. 

Trapping them was a tricky process.

“I’ve been cooperating in catching the cats,” said Patricia. ​“But the cats have figured it out.” She explained that they were able to get into the Hav-a-hart traps for the food without tripping them.

Burban said that the cats were treated at various local veterinarians and some are available for adoption. They have been vaccinated, de-fleaed and received medication for conjunctivitis and dermatitis. ​“They can be fostered [housed temporarily] or released with their medications,” said Burban.

“They are friendly although understandably traumatized by the experience.” They do need some work being socialized, she added in an update last week. The cats are of various ages, coat colors and fur lengths; two gray kittens and two tabbies were getting acclimated together in the sunny cat room recently at the Cosgrove shelter at 749 East Main St. 

Eunice Lasala, founding president of the Branford Compassion Club, helped the animal control officers with the rescue. She is now fostering a mom, Ruby, and her three kittens, as well as Ruby’s sister, Opal. Ruby was giving birth as the rescue was taking place, but the little family is now doing well. Burban took Lasala to Patricia’s home because of Lasala’s expertise in handling unusual cat situations.

There was also the issue of a dead cat found by animal control officers in the basement of the house. Patricia explained that he was older and she was aware that something was wrong. She intended on taking him to her vet (who, she added, had recommended that she give up some of the cats), but was caught up in trying to clean the house and dealing with town officials.

“It was bad timing,” she said.

There is the larger problem of housing and care for the rescued cats. ​“The shelter is already full to the max,” said Burban, who has been dealing with an especially hectic summer. She has fielded lots of complaints since people are home more and the shelter is filled to capacity with animals surrendered and left off by people all over the area.

Forever homes and foster homes are being sought as well as donations for their care. ​“There are thousands of dollars in emergency care,” said Burban.

Patricia has indicated that she is willing to be responsible for the veterinary bills.

“She’s devastated, but she’ll do all right,” said Lasala.

For more information on adopting or fostering one (or more) cats, call the Cosgrove Animal Shelter at 203 – 315-4125. Donations are also needed.

To learn about community intervention, visit the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC.) A community intervention manual is available on the site. Or visit an animal hoarding site, which includes a review by this writer of Inside Animal Hoarding: The Case of Barbara Erickson and Her 552 Dogs by Dr. Arnold Arluke and Celeste Killeen.

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