47 and counting: Animal rescues still finding cats in Wynyard home where police found a person dead

Like the cat in the old folk song, Veronica Hermiston keeps coming back.

She runs Mozart Sympawthy Animal Sanctuary, one of the rescue groups that removed dozens of cats from a hoarding situation earlier this month in Wynyard, Sask. 

“We're continually going back and setting the traps,” Hermiston said in an interview at her farm near Mozart, Sask.

“We're talking to neighbours because they still see tracks here and there, so we're not going to stop 'til we have the last one.”

On Jan. 2, Saskatchewan RCMP called animal rescue groups to help remove cats from a hoarding situation at a property in Wynyard, Sask., which is about 175 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon. 

RCMP officers had discovered a human body during a wellness check earlier that day. A second person inside the home was removed for medical attention.

Hermiston trapped the 47th cat from the house on Monday night.

Pet hoarding is more common than people realize, Hermiston said. People often reach out to her looking for help, either for themselves or out of concern for a loved one when a large number of pets becomes unmanageable.

A cadre of volunteers is providing veterinary care and grooming services for the cats rescued from the Wynyard home.

Rescued cats often arrive with serious health conditions, requiring veterinary care and other specialized services. They’re spayed and neutered, checked for gastrointestinal problems and parasites, while severe cases require procedures like a tooth extraction.

Since the rescue, many of the cats are coming out of their “shutdown” state and showing curiosity, affection and other signs of recovery, Hermiston said.

“The transformation that we're seeing every day is so heartwarming,” she said.

The Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon is fostering five of the rescued cats, who have their own enclosure in the long-term care centre while they wait out a mandatory quarantine before mingling with other pets already there.

Pixie and Phoenix are about 14 weeks old and doing well, Sherbrooke’s therapy manager Alison Fox said.