A welfare check for a person lying outside a Northeast Tacoma home on Tuesday afternoon led officers to something far worse waiting inside: dozens of cats living in what animal control described as rough conditions, with feces covering the floor and at least one cat found dead. By Wednesday afternoon, the count of cats removed from the home had climbed past 63, and officials warned the number was still expected to grow.
According to the Tacoma News Tribune, Tacoma police responded at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to the 6100 block of 29th Street Northeast for a welfare check involving a person found lying outside a home. Shelbie Boyd told the paper that officers were dispatched for that welfare check, and a resident at the home said they knew the person reported outside and were not worried about them. But once inside, officers observed numerous adult cats and kittens throughout the house, prompting a call to City of Tacoma Animal Control.
Animal control obtained a warrant based on officers' observations of the living conditions, the News Tribune reports. On Tuesday, the homeowner surrendered 16 cats to animal control, but officers returned to the house Wednesday and kept finding more. By 2:12 p.m. Wednesday, the total had reached 63 cats, with one found deceased and the remaining animals described as being in rough condition. Some of the cats had fleas, and the home's floor was reportedly covered in feces.
Owner Reportedly Told Officers to Leave
The homeowner told officers to go away, according to the News Tribune's reporting, though it's unclear whether that happened during the initial welfare check or the follow-up animal control visit. Animal control officials said they will seek charges against the owner once all of the cats have been evaluated by veterinarians. Tacoma's municipal code caps household pets at six animals, and the case comes as the city continues grappling with a spate of large-scale hoarding discoveries.
A Pattern of Mass Cat Rescues in Tacoma
This is not an isolated incident for Pierce County. Just weeks earlier, in Tacoma police pulled more than 30 cats off an abandoned sailboat near Owen Beach, with Tacoma Police Marine Services and animal control rescuing over 60 malnourished cats living in crowded conditions aboard the vessel, per FOX 13 Seattle. And in November 2025, Tacoma animal control officers rescued nearly 70 cats found in horrific conditions inside a U-Haul truck at a South Tacoma motel, a case that led prosecutors to file 11 animal cruelty charges against the owner, according to KIRO 7.
The strain on regional shelter capacity is not new either. In October 2024, animal control seized roughly 100 cats from a biohazardous Federal Way apartment, severely straining the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County at a time when the shelter was already caring for nearly 700 animals, KING 5 News reported. The Humane Society, located at 2608 Center Street, serves as the region's main open-admission shelter for seized animals and has faced repeated capacity crises, including one in June 2024 when more than 500 animals entered the facility in just two weeks.
What Happens Next Legally
Whether the Northeast Tacoma homeowner ultimately faces gross misdemeanor or felony charges will hinge on veterinary evaluations of the surviving cats. Under Washington's second-degree animal cruelty statute, RCW 16.52.207, an owner who knowingly or with criminal negligence fails to provide necessary shelter, sanitation, space, or medical care resulting in unjustifiable physical pain commits a gross misdemeanor. If evaluations instead show starvation, suffocation, or severe physical injury causing undue suffering, that could trigger Washington's first-degree animal cruelty statute, RCW 16.52.205, a Class C felony that state lawmakers upgraded in 2024 to a higher Level III seriousness ranking for sentencing purposes, according to 105.3 KISS FM.
Separately, state procedures under RCW 16.52.085 require agencies that seize animals for neglect to provide formal notice to the owner, who can then petition for a civil court hearing to determine whether the animals are forfeited or returned. Tacoma's own Title 17 municipal code also gives city animal control officers broad authority to investigate cruelty, enforce sanitation standards, and designate repeat violators as problem pet owners, per MRSC.
City Tightened Pet Rules Last Year
The case also lands amid ongoing efforts by Tacoma leaders to address pet overpopulation. In June 2025, the Tacoma City Council adopted updates to the city's animal control code instituting mandatory spay and neuter requirements for animals handled by Animal Control and prohibiting retail pet sales, changes aimed at curbing overpopulation that can fuel hoarding situations like this one. City of Tacoma Animal Control typically staffs on-duty officers Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., relying on 911 dispatch to handle animal emergencies after hours and on weekends.
For now, the exact final tally of cats recovered from the Northeast Tacoma home remains unknown, as does the full scope of the animals' health evaluations. Animal control has said only that it expects more cats to be found and that charges against the owner will follow once every cat has been examined by a veterinarian.
