Rescues, shelters make up a quarter of the 6,000 hoarding cases each year
“Linda Bruno called her Pennsylvania cat rescue the land of milk and tuna. It thrived for years as people sent pets they couldn't care for from hundreds of miles away — unaware it was a death camp for cats.
Investigators who raided the place two years ago found killing rooms, mass graves so thick they couldn't take a step without walking on cat bones and a stunning statistic: Bruno had taken in over 7,000 cats in the previous 14 months, but only found homes for 23.
In doing so, she had become a statistic herself, one of an increasing number of self-proclaimed rescuers who have become animal hoarders running legal and often nonprofit charities.”
AP PHOTO - Betsey Webster checks on the welfare of the animals and the condition of the emergency shelter set up at Banning Animal Shelter in Banning, Calif. Seized animals from Best Buddies Rescue in Aguanga, Calif., were temporarily housed at Banning Animal Shelter