Munich: Grünwald – Association rescues 20 cats from Messie-Haus – District of Munich

A stench of feces, ammonia and putrefaction – that was the first thing the veterinary office staff encountered when they entered a house near Grünwald. The veterinarians have seen a lot in their work, but the misery they encountered on their most recent assignment shocked them deeply. A middle-aged woman locked 20 cats in her home in the middle of a housing estate. These had to live in the midst of dirt, excrement, empty food bowls and even two animal carcasses. Physically unharmed, but completely disturbed, some animals tried desperately to escape through the front door when employees of the animal welfare association arrived. The cats were brought to the animal shelter in Munich-Riem.

“That was one of the worst missions of our colleagues,” says Kristina Berchtold, the press spokeswoman for the animal welfare association and the Riemer animal shelter. Your inspectors have to rescue animals from messie households “alarmingly often” – most recently in July of this year when an apartment was evacuated in the southeast of Munich, but the owner was still living in the apartment. The current case is extreme. The animals probably lived alone in the building for months.

Littered and dirty: the kitchen in the house near Grünwald.

(Photo: Tierschutzverein Munich)

It came to light because last Wednesday the Animal Welfare Association and the Veterinary Office investigated an anonymous tip that initially sounded harmless: Someone was feeding more and more stray cats, some of them looked increasingly sickly, now there are probably 15 to 20 cats – that was the message. On the spot, the helpers were subjected to animal cruelty on an unimaginable scale.

The door of the house had been blocked with a stick. When the door was opened carefully, paws looking for help stretched out towards the rescuers through the small gap. Directly in the entrance area was a tray with numerous unfilled bowls, empty and closed food cans and two cat cadavers. The floors of the rudimentarily furnished house were littered with excrement, and cat hair flew around in tufts.

The house owner is unapologetic

The mission was not without danger for the experienced rescuers, according to the animal welfare association. Again and again they almost fell or got stuck to the ground with their overshoes. The stench of putrefaction and excrement forced the helpers to go out into the fresh air again and again, despite protective masks.

When they came, the cats reacted upset and panicked, say the animal rights activists. The cats could hardly be calmed down. Animals that did not try to escape outside hid in the back rooms. The cats – in and of themselves clean and odor-sensitive animals – would even have tried during their captivity to relieve themselves in uniform places and thus remain house-trained.

Cruelty to animals: The stench is so unbearable that the employees of the animal welfare association have to go out into the fresh air again and again despite protective masks.

The stench is so unbearable that the employees of the animal welfare association have to go out into the fresh air again and again despite protective masks.

(Photo: Tierschutzverein Munich)

It is uncertain where the animals come from. The house owner claims, according to the animal welfare association, that they were fed from the area and ran to her. “That is hardly believable,” says club spokeswoman Berchtold. According to the experts, reports from neighbors and numerous clean transport boxes arouse the suspicion that some of these are sales cats from Internet platforms, as well as found animals.

In general, the animal owner has shown herself to be unreasonable, according to Berchtold. When she met the inspectors, she claimed that she wanted to give the animals water. A ban on keeping animals awaits the woman who has long since lived elsewhere. The veterinary office has to decide whether a fine should also be imposed, but has not yet provided any information. According to Berchtold, the fact that no one has noticed the cruelty to animals for so long is probably due to the fact that the woman behaved absolutely inconspicuously.

The animals are currently still in quarantine and are recovering from their misery at the Munich animal shelter. According to the home, some still have diarrhea, others are physically unharmed, but very shy. You noticeably enjoyed the attention of the carers, says Berchtold. They would have given them “sweet” names in the truest sense of the word. But according to the animal welfare association, Milky Way, Knoppers, Hanuta, Brownie, Pudding, Twix and the others now want a loving new home. Information on this and how you can support the animal welfare association is available at www.tierschutzverein-muenchen.de.

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