Quoted: a Beach resident on the frustrations of living next to a cat hoarder

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If they have to go in there with haz-mat suits, why are they letting her live there? It’s a health hazard.

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—Retiree Neil Downey, whose tidy semi on Beech Avenue adjoins a squalid property overrun with 30-odd cats, on the worries that come with sharing a property line with a compulsive feline hoarder. A half-dozen city agencies have failed to help—or force—the troubled resident to clean up (in part because she isn’t exceeding Toronto’s six-cat maximum since most of the animals don’t actually live inside the house). The lack of action has neighbours worried about the hoarder’s health, as well as their own property values. They’ve resorted to avoiding their backyards, using heavy-duty air freshener to cover up the stench of cat excrement, and even luring cats into carriers and calling Animal Services to cart them off. The ordeal, however, may be nearing its end: earlier this week, mayor and noted Mr. Fixit Rob Ford promised to help “straighten out” the problem. [Toronto Star]