Nearly 24 abandoned cats were rescued near Dixon Dam in central Alberta, after being discovered by Jason Murphy from Red Deer. Murphy was out for a drive last Thursday when he stopped to admire the scenery and found himself surrounded by cats. “When I got out, there was a smaller cat, a Siamese, right outside my truck. At first, I thought it might just be a farm cat that had wandered off. But then another came, and when I walked toward the trees, I found about 9 or 10 more,” he said.
With no food or water on hand, Murphy returned to Red Deer to gather supplies, called local animal shelters for help, and uploaded a short video of the cats to Facebook. When he returned to feed them, several other volunteers showed up. “Soon, we herded them all into kennels,” Murphy said. Staff members from a local society who had already gone home for the day returned to assist in caring for the cats.
Residents in the area are still monitoring the region around Dixon Dam with traps, as more cats may yet be found. The story of the abandonment has sparked widespread anger on social media.
When contacted by Global News, Red Deer County Bylaw stated that while it’s not illegal to humanely trap cats on your property, abandoning them is against the law.
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