Dozen cats dumped outside Dayton shelter as storm approaches

About a dozen cats were dumped outside a Dayton animal shelter Monday, hours before a snow storm arrived.

Humane Society of Greater Dayton staff spent all morning combing through the woods after an older model green Lexus pulled over in front of the shelter at 1661 Nicholas Road, opened the door and released about 12 cats before squealing away.

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The cats were not in cages or carriers, and ran into a nearby wooded area, some climbing trees, to hide. Of those 11 have been rescued and one more was still up in a tree Monday afternoon, with staff still working to try to save her while the region is in the midst of a winter weather advisory.

“Abandoning cats in a matter like this is not only illegal, but it is dangerous or even life-threatening to these poor cats,” Brian Weltge, humane society president and CEO, said. “These cats could have run into the road. These cats could be prey to larger animals such as coyotes. These cats could be harmed with the snow coming. Simply letting cats loose like this is not the way to do it. We are here to help the people in our community and the animals, but we can’t do that when animals are just let loose in this manner.”

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

The Humane Society of Greater Dayton is a limited-intake, no-kill animal shelter that brings in stray cats as space allows, the agency said.

Those who want to surrender a cat must scheduled a time to bring in the cat to make sure there is space available.

“When people choose to just dump animals like this at the shelter without following the right channels, they are putting a strain on our resources,” Weltge said. “Yes, the animals will be safe in our care. However, an influx of any animal like this puts a strain on our animal care staff, our foster families, our vet team. It affects every aspect of our organization.”

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