Man in trouble for hoarding cats again

FOND DU LAC - Police say a Fond du Lac man has been arrested for hoarding cats in unsafe conditions.

Last Friday, Fond du Lac Humane Society manager Renee Webb got the call she dreads. Several cats were found at a house in the city; urine and feces everywhere and a lack of food.

"It's not comfortable, it's not healthy," said Webb.

So far, ten Bengal cats and kittens have been relocated to the shelter. They're quarantined and being tested for parasites and diseases.

"Couple of wounds, couple of the seven month old kittens are somewhat thin," explained Webb.

And the worst part, says Webb, this is the second time the suspect, Timothy White, has been caught hoarding Bengals.

Last September, 30 cats were taken from White's home, some of which were so sick they had to be euthanized.

"A year and two months down and we've already got what looks like a couple of different litters of kittens," said Webb.

One condition of White's probation is that he was only supposed to have one cat living in his home at a time. On Friday morning, he admitted to probation and parole officers that he had several cats living there.

Police told us White was arrested for violating probation.

"I am so happy that probation and parole and also the Fond du Lac Police Department took this seriously," said Webb.

Webb told FOX 11 that ten cats are tough enough to handle. It could have been much worse had the situation continued.

"We don't have room for this! We don't," said Webb.

In fact, the shelter is in the middle of a $600,000 fundraising campaign to expand to handle this kind of intake.

She told us she hopes the public realizes how serious hoarding is.

"Hoarding is a disease. It really is a mental illness. It can be related to loss, a loss in someone's life and suddenly they feel like they need to take care of something," said Webb.

But more often than not the animals need more care than that one person can give.

The Fond du Lac County District Attorney's Office has not responded to a message we left about whether White is facing new charges.

The shelter is accepting adoption applications for the Bengal cats.