Animal rescue workers removed 38 cats from a Staten Island home in Great Kills, where it seems the felines (half of them feral) were "living amid piles of filth and excrement, with no food or water." A Staten Island Hope Animal Rescue worker told the Staten Island Advance, "It was kind of overwhelming. They’re very, very skinny. And they looked very traumatized. I think they were a week without food. ... Some were pregnant. One had kittens already."
According to the paper, the cats basically took over the rental occupied by Bill Reilly, who left the home last month. Llandlord Eleftherios (Terry) Theodorakis found out about the cats—and the horrible stench—at 115 Armstrong Ave. when a tenant in the building died, and he told the Daily News, "The cats were sitting all around - they thought it was their place. And when the Advance visited Theodorakis at the home (he's trying to rid the house of the smell by ripping away the floorboards and more), "At least two cats could be seen wandering about Wednesday — one hid under a Dumpster, another ran back into the house, spurring Theodorakis to chase it into a bathroom. On Thursday, four cats were still running loose on the property, he said, and rescue workers had set up traps to capture them."
Reilly, who initially had two cats, was regarded as a good tenant until a few years ago; he told the Advance, "[The cats] just multiplied" and then hung up. And Staten Island Hope Animal Rescue's Michelle Christofilakes, who has many of the cats in temporary foster homes and is working on getting the feral cats fixed, says she's overwhelmed." She has "donated $300 to defray some of the cost of the rescue, but she’s reaching out to other groups, including the ASPCA, for help." Here's more info on SIHAR, if you want to help them.
