Group Releases Undercover Video Footage, Calls for Emergency Seizure of Cats Warehoused for Years in Squalid Conditions
For Immediate Release:
February 24, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 757-622-7382
Myrtle Beach, S.C. — PETA has secretly documented systematic, severe, and often fatal neglect of cats at Sacred Vision Animal Sanctuary (SVAS), a hoarding facility tucked away behind a church on Forestbrook Road in Myrtle Beach. SVAS consists of a collection of wire crates containing some 300 cats—most of whom have been kept caged for years—in dark, unventilated storage units. Facility operator Elizabeth Owen was charged with violating Horry County's animal care and treatment ordinance in September. The case has been continued four times since, leaving the cats to suffer and die of untreated illness and injuries in deplorable, unsanitary conditions. PETA will screen never-before-seen video footage at a news conference on Thursday:
When: Thursday, February 24, 12 noon
Where: Hampton Inn West, 4551 Hwy. 501, Myrtle Beach
"Many of these cats have not been permitted to stretch, walk, or escape their own waste for years and have been denied proper veterinary care," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "Hoarding is often indicative of a mental disorder, and cases like this one require swift intervention, including confiscation of animals by authorities."
PETA's findings include evidence that Owen knowingly deprived suffering cats—including some who wheezed as a result of severe upper respiratory infections and others plagued with conjunctivitis, mouth ulcers, painful dental conditions, seizures, hair loss, open wounds, and more—of veterinary care, even refusing offers of free emergency veterinary care for dying cats. Owen also refused to allow the cats to be assessed by independent veterinarians and sheltering professionals free of charge; Owen stated that she would rather let the cats "pass" at the facility than have them taken by officials.
PETA has submitted a formal complaint to 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Greg Hembree's office and is calling for the cats to be seized immediately.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
