To the surprise of the Pune Municipal Corporation and Maharashtra Animal Welfare Board, a woman was found sheltering 350 cats in her apartment flat in Hadapsar.
The strange incident was reported at Marvel Bounty Co-operative Housing Society in Hadapsar, where a woman had employed five or six workers to take care of her pet cats that numbered around 350. Living on the ninth floor of the residential building, the woman was not on good terms with her neighbours as the large number of cats had been causing issues for over five years. The smell of faeces, fur and the continuous purring of the felines were a headache for the neighbours of the lady who constantly ignored the complaints.
It is believed that the cats reproduced rapidly over the years and the women kept them all at the flat. Residents of Marvel Bounty Co-operative Housing Society even tried to reach out to the owners of the flat but couldn't find any lasting solution.
However, the local body finally got involved when the tired neighbours decided to lodge a complaint, Loksatta said in a report. Although the officials initially thought 350 to be exaggerated figures, to their surprise, they found hundreds of cats at the woman's apartment during an inspection. However, the woman gave the civic body officials a cold shoulder as well, forcing them to act.
The Pune Municipal Corporation officials reached out to the Hadapsar Police and Animal Welfare Board to initiate action against the woman, the Marathi news report said. It was the police personnel who calculated the number of cats inhabiting the flat to be around 350. Taking into account the complaints of the residents of the society, a notice was served by the animal welfare officers of the Pune Municipal Corporation to the flat owners. The animals were to be moved out of the society within 48 hours, they were told.