Help the Cats of 20th St. in Costa Mesa, CA,
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**UPDATE 11/17/23**
I wanted to give you all an update on the hoarding case in Costa Mesa. Back at the end of August, Megan and I began rescuing as many cats as we could from a dilapidated property on West 20th Street. The home was scheduled to be demolished by a developer and the neighbors were not going to take care of cats, so we knew we had to find permanent homes for them.
Neither of us had any idea what we were getting into, but once we started, we knew we had to see this rescue through until the end.
Thanks to so many incredible people who helped us along the way and @loveyourferalfelines, we were able to rescue 21 cats and place them in their forever homes.
We are forever grateful to Victoria for letting us house the cats in her garage for several months until they were well enough to be adopted.
Thank you Stephanie for teaching us how to properly tap and transport cats - we were clueless! Thank you Mike at Feed Barn for loaning us so many traps.
Thank you Jane and Ken for housing cats before and after their medical appointments.
Thank you to East Chapman Veterinary Center, @newportharborvets and @allcreaturescarecottage for providing these cats with the care they so desperately needed.
Thank you to all of you who donated to and shared our GoFundMe and thank you to those of you who tagged @cityofcostamesa and @supervisorfoley calling out their lack of transparency and concern for the animals in our city.
The problems facing animals in our communities can seem overwhelming, but when people come together to help them, there’s nothing we can’t do!! ❤️
**UPDATE 10/1/23**
We successfully transported 12 cats to San Diego yesterday with the help of the incredible team at Love Your Feral Felines (LYFF).
We still have five cats remaining who are receiving medical care in order to get them healthy enough to also be relocated to their forever homes in the next few weeks.
None of this would have been possible without the support of all of you who contributed to the GoFundMe. We are forever grateful to you - it truly takes a village! ❤️
** A video of the last five weeks of this rescue journey will be posted in the next few days on Instagram at these accounts:
@murphy_pip_indy_lucy and @megasaurus_5
**UPDATE 9/27/23**
As we enter week five of this huge rescue effort, we want to update you on the status of the Costa Mesa cats.
Thanks to your generosity, we have rescued a total of twenty one cats, and have had them spayed/neutered, ear tipped and vaccinated!!
We have partnered with LYFF (Love Your Feral Felines) and are now in the process of finding permanent homes to relocate them to in San Diego County. We will be renting a U-Haul and transporting 12 cats to their forever homes this weekend!
We acquired six cats from Costa Mesa Animal Control a few days ago, and those cats DID NOT receive the medical care that the City had promised us. We now have to cover all of their spay/neuter, ear tipping and vaccinations.
We also have five cats who are showing symptoms of URI (upper respiratory infection) which can be highly contagious.
Due to these unexpected medical costs, we are going to need to raise more money than we originally thought.
We so appreciate all of your donations and support that you have given so far. If you can donate even another $10, it will help us to provide the medical care that the remaining cats need so that they can be healthy enough to transport to LYFF in a few weeks.
It takes a village and we couldn’t have done this life saving work without your support - THANK YOU!! ❤️
Here are some photos of some of the cats we’ve been able to save thanks to your donations. They are safe in their catio and are being fed and well taken care of thanks to you!
**UPDATE 9/15/23**
We believe we are in the final stages of the rescue portion of this hoarding case. We have trapped 15 cats now and provided them with the medical care that they need. Two cats are living the good life on a ranch in Santa Barbara. We are now focusing our efforts on permanent locations for the remaining 13 cats to live.
We so appreciate your donations and if you have any connections to barns, wineries, or sanctuaries please let us know, as we want these cats to be able to live the rest of their lives in peace - never knowing hunger, neglect, or abuse again.
Thank you so much everyone for your support!!! ❤️
**UPDATE 9/12/23**
Our rescue story has finally gained media attention and we are thrilled to announce that we have a temporary holding space for the nine cats we’ve rescued. Two of our rescues are now living the good life at a barn in Santa Barbara.
We believe there are still 5 to 6 more cats that we need to trap before the demolition begins on the property. We are not sure how much time we have left.
We so appreciate your donations and if you have any connections to barns, wineries, or sanctuaries please let us know, as we want these cats to be able to live the rest of their lives in peace - never knowing hunger, neglect, or abuse again.
Thank you so much everyone for your support!!! ❤️
**UPDATE 9/9/23**
We have almost reached our goal thanks to your generosity, and we are so grateful to each and everyone of you.
We saw nine cats at the property tonight, one of whom we believe to be pregnant. We are in desperate need of finding a place for these cats to live after they have been spayed/neutered and vaccinated.
They cannot be returned to their home, as the neighbors don’t want them there and neither does the developer of the new property that is being built on their home site.
If anyone has connections to any barns, wineries, or sanctuaries please let us know, as we want these cats to be able to live the rest of their lives in peace - never knowing hunger, neglect, or abuse again. ❤️
**UPDATE**
The City of Costa Mesa posted a false claim on their Instagram on 9/5/23 stating that “The feral cats have been removed from the property and are under the care of animal rescue teams.”
THIS IS A BLATANT LIE. We trapped two cats last night and saw six others who are alive on the property. There are most likely many more still in hiding underneath the home’s foundation.
The City continues to gaslight us and try to silence us, but we will not go away until every single living cat has been removed from this property.
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We are trying to raise funds to help the cats and kittens that remain on this property in Costa Mesa, California that is scheduled for demolition.
After repeated attempts to contact city agencies, we still do not have the answers that we are looking for. The City of Costa Mesa and its Code Enforcement and Animal Control agencies have failed these cats and kittens miserably.
This GoFundMe aims to raise money to provide temporary housing and medical care for the cats and kittens that remain at this property until they can be relocated.
Any donation is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your support!!! ❤️
Organizer
TJ Kelley
Organizer
Costa Mesa, CA
