Lake City Home Depot Cat Colony Vanishes Amid Controversy
A group of cats that had made a Lake City Home Depot store their home for six years has vanished, prompting an animal rescue organization to demand answers.
The cats were part of a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program run by Ranch Rescue founder Laura Rister and her volunteers. They would feed the cats, spay and neuter them, vaccinate them, and ear-tip them, with permission from store management.
However, when one volunteer went to feed the cats recently, she found two dead bodies near the food bowls. The store's new management allegedly told her that she was no longer welcome on the property and that the cats were being taken away.
Rister says that since the cats are part of a TNR program, they are considered the feeder's property under Florida law. Ranch Rescue has been left with many questions about what happened to the cats, including where they were taken and what their disposition is.