A tiny newborn kitten was found alone in the parking lot of Home Depot Store #6576 in Kerrville, Texas. She was lucky: someone found her alive and rescued her. Her mother and siblings are still missing.

What rescuers say happened to the other cats is horrifying. A company brought in to remove them allegedly trapped the cats and covered the traps with plastic in approximately 108°F heat. Rescuers say they were told the cats would be taken somewhere and dumped. Now their whereabouts are unknown.

Where is this kitten’s family? Are they alive?

The rescuer who raised the alarm identified a Home Depot manager and alleges that he had previously wanted the cats shot. Home Depot Corporate must investigate that allegation, determine Canter’s role in the cats’ removal, identify who hired the contractor, and establish exactly what happened to every cat taken from Store #6576.

THIS COULD BE A CRIME.

Texas Penal Code §42.092 specifically protects stray and feral cats. Texas law prohibits conduct including transporting or confining an animal in a cruel manner, unreasonable abandonment, and unreasonable failure to provide necessary food, water, care or shelter to an animal in someone’s custody.

Kerrville has additional protections. City Code §18-71 prohibits inhumane treatment, §18-74 prohibits abandonment, and §18-75 regulates humane trapping.

Whether any criminal or local ordinance violations occurred is for investigators to determine. But allegations that cats were covered with plastic in approximately 108°F heat, taken away and never accounted for demand a serious investigation.

WE DEMAND:

Home Depot Corporate investigate Store #6576. Determine who authorized the removal, what Louis Canter’s role was, who hired the contractor, what instructions were given, and whether company policies or laws were violated. If wrongdoing is substantiated, take appropriate action against the employees or contractors responsible.

Find the cats. Account for every cat removed from Store #6576, including this kitten’s mother and siblings, and determine whether they are alive.

Identify the contractor. Disclose who trapped and transported the cats and where every animal was taken.

Preserve the evidence now. Secure surveillance footage, work orders, invoices, contracts, photographs, incident reports, emails, texts and other communications before evidence is overwritten or lost.

Investigate the 108°F allegation. Determine whether trapped cats were covered with plastic, how long they remained under those conditions, and who was responsible for them.

Cooperate with authorities. Provide relevant evidence to Kerrville Animal Control and law enforcement so possible violations of Texas and Kerrville law can be independently investigated.

Verify their welfare. If the cats were safely relocated, allow an appropriate authority or qualified independent animal-welfare organization to verify where they are and that they are alive and safe.

Prevent this from happening again. Adopt a humane company policy requiring qualified animal-control, rescue or TNR involvement when feral or community cats need to be removed from Home Depot properties.

One tiny kitten made it to safety. Her mother and siblings are still missing.

Someone authorized their removal. Someone trapped them. Someone transported them. Someone knows where they went.

If they were safely relocated, show us. If they were dumped or harmed, authorities need to know.

Home Depot Corporate: investigate Store #6576, preserve the evidence, hold anyone responsible accountable—and find this kitten’s family. 

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