Sandy Springs police who were asked to check on a homeless family in a van found 38 cats living inside the vehicle, including tiny, days-old kittens inside a cup holder, officials said Wednesday.
When officers got to the scene outside a Kroger grocery on Sandy Springs Circle, they saw a blue Dodge Caravan with a tag and “a large number of cats” inside the vehicle, according to a Sandy Springs police report. They smelled a strong odor of cat urine and feces, police said.
A passenger in the van, 41-year-old Alexandra Wingate, told police she and her mother, 70-year-old Sharyn Wingate, came to the store to purchase a few packs of water.
Alexandra Wingate, who said she and her mother worked at a local veterinary clinic, was waiting for her mother to return to the van when police arrived Tuesday, police said.
Officers later discovered the mother and daughter had warrants out for their arrests on animal cruelty charges.
They were arrested after allegedly violating their probation by owning animals.
After veterinary care, all the cats will be put up for adoption through the Fulton County Animal Shelter.
Karen Hirsch, a spokeswoman for the LifeLine Animal Project, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that 34 of the 38 cats are healthy and ready to be adopted.
"Out of the four who aren't ready for adoption, one is pregnant, one is nursing kittens, one is FIV positive [feline immunodeficiency virus] and one has an upper respiratory infection," Hirsch said.
To adopt the cats, call LifeLine Animal Project’s Fulton Adoption Office at 404-613-0357.
— Information from The Associated Press was used in this article.
