LAKE CITY, Fla. – A colony of cats that called a Lake City Home Depot home for six years has vanished. Now, the group that spent years caring for them, isn’t letting them go without a fight.
For years, Ranch Rescue of Lake City volunteers showed up to the Home Depot to feed a colony of homeless cats that had made the property their home.
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They trapped them, spayed, neutered and returned them, vaccinated them and ear-tipped them.
They had a standing agreement with store management that allowed them to keep coming back.
That’s until rescuers say the store came under new management.
“She goes on to the property to feed her cats. And there’s two dead cats laying by the food bowls. And that’s when she ran into this Rachel, she says you’re not welcome on the property. You’re going to be trespassing. And the cats are being trapped and taken to a secure facility,” said Ranch Rescue founder Laura Rister.
Rister says being a TNR cat shows possession in the State of Florida, meaning the animals are considered the feeders’ property.
The rescue was given no information about where the cats were taken or what happened to them.
And now they have some questions.
“Where did the cats go? What is the disposition?” Rister said.
The mystery has prompted a public uproar.
Protesters gathered outside the Home Depot demanding answers.
Thousands of comments flooded social media. And the Humane Society of Lake City released a statement making clear they had nothing to do with the disappearance.
The volunteer who discovered the cats were gone has been especially shaken.
“She’s still throwing up. She’s a schoolteacher. She’s had to call out of school. She is upset,” Rister said.
Not everyone we spoke with shares the same level of concern.
A frequent Home Depot customer told News4JAX that while they aren’t familiar with the details of the situation, they will always stand behind the store.
“I stand with Home Depot. The people here are like family to me,” said Dustin Busscher.
Ranch Rescue says three cats are still believed to be on the property, but say those animals are not in their care, and they want ownership of them.
News4JAX drove around the entire perimeter of the property looking for any sign of the remaining cats.
We found none.
Legal action underway
Ranch Rescue has now secured legal representation, demanding answers about who removed the animals, where they were taken and what happened to them.
News4JAX reached out to Home Depot for comment and did not immediately receive a response.
Ranch Rescue says they will not stop until they have answers about every cat that went missing from that property.
For more information on how to support Ranch Rescue click here.
