Kendall County Animal Control takes in 77 cats from hoarding case

Ramen is looking for his forever home.

The 12-week-old kitten is one of 77 cats Kendall County Animal Control recently took in following a hoarding case in unincorporated Newark.

“We became involved at the beginning of July,” said Kendall County Animal Control Director Taylor Cosgrove. “And we have removed 77 cats and counting from the property.”

Because the agency now has an abundance of cats ready for adoption, its building was open during the Kendall County Sheriff Office’s National Night Out event on Aug. 5.

Kendall County Animal Control is located next to the sheriff’s office.

“We thought it was a good time to have as much of an open house as we can given our small space and allow people to kind of peek at our adoptable dogs and cats,” Cosgrove said.

Besides cats and dogs, the agency also has rabbits available for adoption.

“Unfortunately, we also received nine rabbits in the course of about two weeks recently,” Cosgrove said. “So, we have a couple of different situations.”

The hoarding case has greatly increased the number of cats animal control has available for adoption. The agency usually has between 20 and 25 adoptable cats.

“With it being kitten season, we’ve had kind of an elevated number anyway,” Cosgrove said.

Kitten season refers to the period, typically from early spring to late fall, when unspayed female cats are most likely to go into heat and reproduce.

The agency currently has about 90 cats available for adoption. Wheaton-based American Rescue Foundation recently took four of the cats that were part of the hoarding situation.

“They ended up taking a total of seven cats from us, but four were from that particular situation,” she said. “They’re awesome. We work with them all the time.”

This isn’t the county animal control’s first encounter with a hoarding situation. Last September, it took in 46 cats following a hoarding case in Plano, Cosgrove said.

Kendall County Animal Control is located at 802 W. John St. in Yorkville. More information is available at its website, kendallcountyil.gov/departments/animal-control.