It’s a kitty conundrum.
More than a dozen cats a Bronx woman has been hoarding are under threat of being kicked to the curb by her disgruntled husband – leaving good Samaritans racing against the clock to find them homes.
The Animal Project NYC was tipped off and asked to intervene in the inhumane arrangement last week by a neighbor of the Kingsbridge Heights couple, according to Tiff Winton, an independent rescuer who is now one of a handful of volunteers scrambling to find the felines future homes.
“Life on the streets for a cat is very hard,” Winton told The Post. “They’re fighting for their lives every day. It’s cold and other cats are beating them up – none of these cats are fixed, so we have to think every one of those cats are going to have 2,3 or 4 litters.”
Animal Project, which is taking donations for the rescue effort, has volunteered to vaccinate, screen and neuter or spay the strays free-of-charge ahead of Thursday’s scheduled eviction, Winton said.
The org also plans to take the cats to adoption events.
The cat woman’s husband had threatened to cut the kittens loose immediately, though nonprofit rescuers were able to broker a deal to buy them a week, Winton said.
Another rescue operator — Inky Blue, which is part of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals — has offered at least one cat placement. And roughly half a dozen foster homes have been found through the rescuers’ network, according to Winton.
More than half of the litter remains unclaimed though, and shelters are likely a “last resort,” she said. Photos of the leftover cats were provided to The Post.
“The shelters are full to the brim all the time,” the rescuer added. “Shelters are great and they do great work. … They do everything they can, but it’s an enclosed environment, [and] cats get sick in the shelter.”
Winton estimated as many as 10 cats – ranging from 3-month-old kittens to seniors – were stuffed into single cages by the Bronx woman before she recently fell ill.
Volunteers found 16 felines in her home after the ASPCA had picked up 11 others.
Most of the cats appear healthy and “don’t look like they’ve been abused,” according to Winton.
But it’s unclear why they were being hoarded — although illegal pet breeding and sales are “very common” in the Bronx.
“It’s a real problem,” she said. “There’s definitely a problem in the Bronx with dumped animals, cats and dogs.”
The group of rescuers – from Rego Park to Hells Kitchen – are now seeking foster families and adoptions for the remaining herd.
Winton described the mission as a rare instance of animal rescuers — an often “competitive” field — working together.
“This is very different, to see on a local community level from the Bronx to Chelsea to Queens working as hard as they can,” she said.
“It’s incredible. And we really only have until this week to find places for them all.”
