I'm not sure if this is the appropriate area to post in, but I'd appreciate any/all advice and opinions on the following...
My cat ran out the back door yesterday and I spent the evening trying to find him. My backyard backs onto other people's, so I was walking around knocking on doors asking if I could look for my cat in their back yards.
As I walked up to a house there were 2 stray-ish-looking, small cats on the front porch. There was a dish of food and water on the front step. I opened the screen door to knock on the heavy wooden door and the smell of cat pee and garbage hit me like a ton of bricks. There were more than 20 flies trapped between the doors as well.
I had to knock twice but eventually this very old, relatively naked man opened the door. He was wearing on a very stained, very tight tshirt and tighty whities in exactly the same condition as his shirt (plus a few holes, bleh). There were MOUNTAINS of stuff behind him - lamps, pizza boxes, garbage bags - at least waist deep. There were also several more cats.
I asked if it would be okay that I looked in his yard for my cat, he grunted at me and made scrunchy expressions with his face. I asked again, he made a gesture to go around back and shut the door in my face. Weird, but w/e. As I was walking to the back of the house, I passed a window with 3 kittens and a mom on the sill, and then again more cats (different sizes/shapes) through another window - all against the background of piles of trash.
When I got out back, there were MORE mountains, and everything smelled worse than the open front door did. There were also more cats. I started looking under tarps, siding, bags of garbage, looking for my cat. The cats were circling around me and mewing. Most had gunk in their eyes, mangy coats, some were losing fur, all beat-up looking. It was appalling! As I moved larger items I ran into 2 bodies, one of which I'm sure was a cat and the other I'm not sure. There had to be 40+ cats there, including the ones I saw inside.
He had food out for them but its not close to enough, they were all skinny/small and there were WAAAAAY too many in the house for every cat to be well-maintained. The neighbours on either side of him told me specifically to check his yard because he had many cats... I don't want to go around poking my nose into someone else's business, so I guess my question is, do I report him to someone? The city/non-emergency police line as a health hazard? The Humane Society? Someone else? Not at all?
Its been on my mind ever since, I can't decide what the right thing to do is.
Thanks!



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