TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Staff at Paws and Whiskers Cat Shelter found two cats abandoned outside their building early Monday morning after the animals were left overnight in dropping temperatures.
The two adult cats were found in a small carrier with no provisions after spending 12 hours outside as temperatures dropped, according to shelter staff.
“So these two cats, adult size, jammed and a small carrier with no provisions for 12 hours overnight with dropping temperatures,” said Tawny Arnold, executive director of Paws and Whiskers Cat Shelter.
Employees took the cats inside and placed them in their last remaining intake cage. Signs on the door clearly state the shelter is full, and there is a sign on the building about illegally dumping animals.
Shelter cameras captured a car pulling up and a person dressed in black leaving the cats outside.
“We do work with law enforcement. We send any information of the person who commits the dumping act through our videos and security camera over to law enforcement, along with the conditions of photographs of the cats,” Arnold said.
Abandoning a cat puts a financial strain on the nonprofit’s resources.
“Every cat here that comes in, unless it comes in perfectly healthy with up-to-date vaccine records and has been altered by spade or neuter, we still have to feed it. We still have to give it a letter still have to care for it,” Arnold said.
She said the cost averages between $350-600 per healthy cat. If the cat is ill, that number goes up to thousands of dollars.
Arnold said people who need to surrender a cat should come in and fill out an application or do it online.
“We have a waiting list seven weeks out that we have people if you found a cat and you’re only trying to help it. It’s not yours. If you can hold it for a few weeks while space becomes available or we obtain a foster for it, we take it,” she said.
The shelter is seeking donations, which can be made online or by calling the shelter.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-11-04 19:31:00
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