‘Cat’astrophe Discovered Aboard Tacoma Sailboat

Dozens of seemingly healthy but abandoned cats were discovered aboard a sailboat in Tacoma, Washington, last Friday. Reports say that police described more than 30 cats and kittens being removed from the vessel near Owen Beach on Friday, August 7; another 10 to 15 cats were still aboard on Sunday. Many of these cats had crawled into unreachable places throughout the boat. Animal control officers then left open crates with food and water aboard, hoping to lure the remaining felines.

News site KING 5 reported that by late Monday all the cats and kittens had been removed from the boat — around 50 in total. A police spokesperson told KING 5 that the vessel is legally registered and has been anchored for a long time. They said that an expanded search warrant had been issued, and that potential charges against the boat owner will be announced as soon as possible. A marine unit is actively determining what to do next with the boat.

While we haven’t discovered any official explanations for the presence of such a large number of cats, with no human in sight, the internet did not disappoint and presented several plausible explanations:

“Must have been a catamaran,” Steven Miller wrote.

“[We] all know that one or two cats got under the owner’s feet and they went overboard,” Shelley Foxx commented.

” … the purrrfect escape,” Dale Farrar added.

The cats were taken to the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County.