Can you share the name of the restaurant she works at? I’d want to make sure I never go there.
This bothers me. This woman’s behavior and lifestyle are absolutely beyond the pale. She is abusing those cats. There is no two ways about it. And yeah, it’s nice that she doesn’t possess the particular cats she abandoned when she moved anymore, but she will do the exact same thing again and again until someone (namely, you) puts a stop to it. What she has done is vile and disgusting and inhumane and cruel. I think it’s sad that you’re willing to sit by and let her walk away from the situation, and even help clean up the mess.
Please, please listen to the other posters and call the authorities on her. SHE WILL CONTINUE TO LIVE LIKE THAT. Mental illness or no, that cannot be allowed. You may be able to report her anonymously. Even if your SIL does get into some hot water over it, you will have done the right and moral thing by stopping an animal abuser, and you will have given the animals she left a shot at being healthy and happy (and fixed, I should hope). Please take action.
Most likely a mentally disabled person who isn’t horrible, just very sick.
Had someone reported this to the authorities a year ago, the situation would not have gotten as bad as it did and hopefully the woman would have received treatment and the cats removed. The sister-in-law, as a landlord, has a responsibility to not only herself but those who live near her property to manage the apartment.
All this contempt for the cat lady would be better directed at your sister-in-law. Managing an apartment involves much more than collecting the rent.
I’m definitely with Diane on this one. The cat woman is very likely sick, but if your SIL isn’t mentally ill herself, then she has a lot to answer for in her very laissez-faire attitute towards her responsibilities as a home-owner and a landlord. She is responsible for the properties she owns, and what goes on in them, and she should own up to this.
SIL has spoken to her lawyer about suing Cat Woman for damages. We videotaped the whole apartment, and it is now in the process of being completely gutted out and rebuilt.
SIL has also asked her lawyer about how to go about turning Cat Woman in for the cruelty to animals, and to see if she can legally tell CW’s employer about her living conditions. He’s looking into it, and will get back to her about it.
Rose