OLYPHANT, Pa. — Concerns raised by a local veterinarian earlier this summer led to the removal of over 100 cats from a pet shelter in Olyphant. The Humane Society of Lackawanna County acted on the veterinarian’s warnings, which detailed the poor condition of cats arriving from Quigley’s Shelter Pets. According to court documents obtained by Newswatch 16, the investigation is ongoing, and no charges have been filed as of yet.
The veterinarian reported that some cats from the shelter were arriving covered in feces and urine, suffering from severe eye infections, dental issues, and, in some cases, were already dead. The veterinarian also noted that she had euthanized several cats from the shelter in the past year due to their dire conditions.
A welfare check conducted last month by a humane officer confirmed the veterinarian’s concerns. The officer noted an “extreme, overwhelming” ammonia odor upon entering the Gravity Street home used by the shelter. Although some areas were “mostly clean,” the basement revealed more than 40 cats living in squalid conditions, where the air was thick with ammonia, making it difficult to breathe without a respirator.
Scott Babinski, the director of Quigley’s Shelter Pets, acknowledged the challenges faced by his volunteer-run organization. “With an all-volunteer staff, it gets oppressive at times,” Babinski told Newswatch 16. He explained that maintaining the shelter, which is divided into three sections, requires 30 hours of work daily—a demand that can overwhelm the limited resources of his team.
Despite Babinski’s efforts to improve the conditions, including significant cleaning, the humane officer found that some of the cats remained ill and the property continued to smell strongly of ammonia. These findings led authorities to seize the cats on Thursday and relocate them to other facilities.
Babinski, who has worked with rescue animals for over a decade, founded Quigley’s Shelter Pets as a nonprofit in 2017. He purchased the Gravity Street property in 2018, converting the former two-family home into an animal shelter. Financial records show that Babinski did not draw a salary and often used his own funds to cover expenses. The nonprofit reported a negative net fund balance for 2022, the most recent year for which tax documents are available.
The majority of the cats housed at the shelter were those left homeless after their owners passed away, with no one else willing to take them in. Babinski expressed his commitment to helping these animals, even as the shelter became overwhelmed with more than 100 cats. “People have said, ‘We’ve called 11 places, we called 14 places, we called 25 places, we called 51 places, and no one will help us,’” Babinski recounted.
However, the humane officer advised Babinski that there comes a point where he must start saying no to taking in more animals.
The Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office has confirmed that the investigation is ongoing. Babinski, who has not been charged, stated, “If we have to go in front of a magistrate or so on, we’re going to go in and address everything that they have to talk about, and I’m going to tell the truth.”
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