A judge has ruled that the San Diego Humane Society illegally abandoned cats through its community cat program. The organization was accused of turning away adoptable cats that it was legally required to care for.
The ruling now puts the Humane Society under a permanent injunction prohibiting it from acquiring verifiable proof of ownership before accepting cats into the shelter.
"People cannot have to go there and be told, 'Oh, we're going to just dump this cat back on the street.' It's very upsetting to people who this happened to, and of course, it's harmful to the cats, many of whom ended up as coyote food or being killed by cars or dying from hunger and dehydration," said the attorney representing one of the nonprofits involved in the case.
The Humane Society claims this ruling affirmed the legality of its program and said in part, "While the court determined that our previous definition of a community cat was too narrow, it ultimately upheld our program as lawful and affirmed the overall legality of life saving CCPs."
They also say they proactively updated the criteria used to determine cat ownership.
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