If you’re worried you may end up turning into a crazy cat lady, you ain’t got nothing on Diane Way.
Maybe that last bad Tinder date was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Perhaps she got herself in a LOL cat spiral one Sunday afternoon, watching video after video of kittens being tickled on YouTube. Possibly she just decided that cats were better than humans.
But even the biggest fan of furballs would have to agree that keeping 107 of them is a little over zealous.
The Toronto based law professor just made your obsession with cat memes look positively healthy after she began taking in stray cats back in 2009.
In addition to Ms Way’s own three kittens, she began opening the door to other cats seven years ago, and when she stopped sterilizing them or taking them to see a vet, her animal population quickly ballooned out of control. In two short years the number of felines grew from 19 to 107.
And they say rabbits are a problem.
In court, Way said she had completely lost count of the cats, estimating there to be around 60.
OSPCA staff arrived at her home near Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue to find a virtual cat museum.
“Wall to wall cats; floors, walls, furniture rotting and coated in cat urine, cat fur and cat feces. The smell was literally overpowering,” read Ontario Court Justice William B. Horkins.
All but one of the cats had to be euthanised after vets on the scene diagnosed them as having numerous infections, defects from inbreeding, dental problems and malnutrition, among other ailments.
The home was in such a damaged state that firefighters were concerned the floorboards would collapse.
Despite claiming that she was unaware her cats were ill, Way, who said that she woke up each day in a “sea of cats”, was found guilty of animal cruelty. Lawyers said that anyone in their right mind would have understood the severity of the situation and known that the cats were suffering.
The judge compared the incident to that of a Shakespearean nightmare, saying, “Diane Way loved her cats ‘not wisely, but too well’ and as with Othello, there were tragic results.” Which, said Shakespeare from his grave, seemed like a really generous metaphor for this situation.
Whether you’re consoled to know that your growing ‘obsession’ with a furry friend is reasonable by comparison, or you currently own 106 cats and are reading this as a cautionary tale, there’s one take-home message for everyone – never have more pets than you have socks in your apartment. (And no, buying more socks to balance the equation is not the answer.)
All jokes aside, as the lawyers said, anyone in their right mind would have understood the gravity of the situation. Here’s to hoping Way finds the help she needs.
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