- His heart was in the right place, but nowhere near his wallet.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, they say. In this Canadian man’s case, that saying certainly is true.
His personal hell, however, didn’t have fire, brimstone, and horned, goat-legged weirdoes poking him with pitchforks.
No, it was full of cats.
Bruce Robinson felt sorry for cats that were getting abandoned near his property in northern British Columbia during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an animal lover, he decided he would house the homeless kitties.
Unfortunately, people were kicking their cats to the curb by the dozens. Robinson didn’t have the heart to leave any of them outside.
And then the cats started having babies with each other.
By the time Robinson contacted the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA), his home was filled with nearly 300 cats. Now, the BC SPCA is struggling to get all the animals spayed, neutered, vaccinated, and rehomed.
‘A Bad Decision’
Bruce Robinson is a man who simply loves cats. Even before the Endless Cats Debacle, he had multiple pet kitties living in his home.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. A lot of people must not have been able to afford to keep their pet cats anymore, because people began abandoning them in the vicinity of Robinson’s home.
That didn’t sit right with Robinson, so he took some cats in. Others just kind of found their way into his home — you know how cats are.
Sadly, it wasn’t just a couple of neighbors who were getting rid of their pets. More and more people began to drop animals off and Robinson decided he would house all of them.
“I thought I could handle the cats,” he told CBC. “I made a bad decision.”
Soon enough, even more cats started cropping up in Robinson’s house and on his property. These, however, weren’t abandoned animals.
No, they were born in Robinson’s home.
Due to the overabundance of felines, Robinson couldn’t possibly afford to have each of them spayed and neutered. Animal instincts took over and soon dozens of the cats were popping out babies.
‘I Love Every One of Them’
The situation understandably put an enormous strain on Robinson’s living situation and finances. He says he’s unemployed at the moment so making ends meet with the cats is far from easy.
According to Robinson, the cats are costing him more than $3,000 a month. The 10 litter boxes in his house need constant emptying and refilling, not to mention the more than 60 pounds of cat food the horde devours daily.
Yet, let no one say Robinson was neglecting the cats. He says he has gone days without food for himself to pay for the cats’ necessities.
“I love every one of them. I wanted to give them a safe home,” Robinson said.
To show that he really does care, he has named every last one of the felines — and he remembers the names.
Eventually, however, Robinson realized he couldn’t deal with the animals anymore. “I ended up in a crazy situation,” he summarized.
So, he got in touch with the BC SPCA.
He Did Good
Staff from BC SPCA arrived at Robinson’s property, but they couldn’t have been prepared for what was waiting for them. When they asked Robinson how many cats exactly he had, the man said trying to count them was like “counting bubbles in boiling water.”
In the end, however, BC SPCA got at least an estimate. Robinson was housing 298 cats — 15 of which were days away from giving birth to more.
Robinson told the organization that he had tried giving the cats away to anyone who would take them. That didn’t work, however.
“No one likes cats up here,” he said.
Now, BC SPCA is stuck trying to spay and neuter all the cats, give them the vaccinations they need, and find a new home for them. The problem is that they don’t have the money for it.
“One cat in our care can cost the organization anywhere between $450 to $700. They need the care and we need to care for them,” said Eileen Drever, senior officer with the BC SPCA.
As such, the organization is now asking for donations to help pay for the cats’ care.
There’s a silver lining, as the cats could need much more care. Given his situation, Drever said Robinson has taken shockingly good care of the animals and they’re all in good to decent health.
Additionally, no one is planning to push animal abuse charges against Robinson. According to Drever, he provided for the cats and had taken good care of them.
He also voluntarily asked for help before things took a turn for the worse.
“Kudos to him for recognizing he was overwhelmed,” said Drever.