VANCOUVER – A group of residents in Princeton is growing increasingly concerned that someone, or some people, is abandoning cats at the local landfill.

Natália Bosley, who has lived in Princeton for about a year, says on Dec. 1 someone dropped off a box of cats containing a mother cat and kittens. The concerned residents have since rescued three adult cats, the mother and two of her kittens, but they know there are at least one or two more still in the landfill.

“We still have two more we can’t catch yet,” says Bosley.

The group has managed to find homes for all the cats so far, or at least foster homes, but they want to get to the bottom of what is happening. “There’s quite a bit of cat dumping here,” says Bosley.

Bosley says part of the issue is that there are no resources in Princeton to help the cats. The closest SPCA is in Penticton and they already have a waiting list for cats. “It’s all volunteers, we’ve all been working together to help these cats,” says Bosley.

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One of the rescued cats. Photo: Natalia Bosley.

Another issue is residents are not getting their cats spayed or neutered and that is causing an overpopulation problem.

But Bosley says there should be an option if people do not want their cat, rather than taking it to the landfill. “We’re trying to bring awareness [to the issue],” she says.

They are looking for any information about what may be happening to these cats and have set up an email account Princetonbcpaws@gmail.com if anyone has any tips or can offer assistance.

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E-Transfers can also be sent through that account or if someone wants to donate at their local CIBC they can send an email and Bosely will email back with the account information.

“We have no resources here except for volunteering,” says Bosley.