Merced County inspection turns up new violations at Last Hope Cat Kingdom in Atwater

A recent Merced County inspection of Last Hope Cat Kingdom uncovered a number of new violations at the Atwater animal rescue, according to reports obtained by the Merced Sun-Star.

Last Hope has been operating under stringent county-imposed restrictions after a June 2013 raid of the facility led to the discovery of hundreds of sick and dead animals. Officials seized 301 animals and euthanized 200 cats, saying they were “too sick to survive.”

The latest inspection, conducted Sept. 12 by the county’s Community and Economic Development Department, turned up unsanitary conditions such as excessive amounts of feces in cat litter boxes and the ground, an unlocked medicine room, spilled medication and an unprotected needle attached to a used IV set. One of the cats also was observed to have a crust-covered eye, the report stated.

There have been no documented site inspections by Merced County Animal Control staff in 2014, according to reports provided to the Sun-Star through a public records request. Five inspections occurred in 2013, the last one Dec. 4.

Merced County sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Pacheco, who took over management of Animal Control this week under a reorganization, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Animal Control officials last year recommended revoking the rescue’s permit, saying it harbored dogs – which are not covered by its permit – and nearly three times the number of cats allowed by the permit.

A Jan. 2 decision by Community and Economic Development Director Mark Hendrickson allowed the rescue to keep its permit but operate under strict guidelines that include a limit of 40 cats; no dogs or other species; mandatory monthly progress reports from a veterinarian; and weekly animal counts from Last Hope.

Hendrickson’s code enforcement staff has conducted at least 10 site visits since January to check for compliance, county records show. They look for building permit deficiencies and count the number of cats, comparing it with weekly reports provided by the rescue.

Though the Sept. 12 visit uncovered some problems, Hendrickson said Last Hope still has consistently met the requirements of its permit and made considerable progress over the past year.

“It’s a cleaner facility today than it was a year ago. It’s a safer facility today than it was one year ago,” Hendrickson said. “We identified a few issues that caused concern, but the county met with the rescue’s representatives on Monday. They provided an explanation to the satisfaction of the county.”

In an interview with the Sun-Star, Renate Schmitz, co-owner of Last Hope, took responsibility for the uncovered needle discovered earlier this month.

“What happened was my fault,” she said. “Somebody dumped a little Yorkie and she was stressed. I took the dog into our medication room and saw she had a baby hanging out.”

Schmitz said the dog was in labor and had a temperature of 104 degrees. She called a local veterinarian, who instructed her to administer fluids to “cool it off” then bring it to the doctor.

“Then I ran to take the dog to the doctor and I forgot the needle,” she continued. “I ran out of the room and didn’t think about the stuff I left behind because I wanted to see the animal survive.”

Schmitz said this is not the first time she’s found distressed and sick animals abandoned at her front door. “I’m very upset that people do that to me because I can’t see animals suffer,” she said. “I think they know I will help and I can’t leave an injured animal there.”

Schmitz said the sick animals found during the Sept. 12 visit were being treated by a veterinarian and the amount of feces was “normal” for a rescue. She said she believes Last Hope is a much better organization now and the relationship with Merced County has improved over the past year.

Hendrickson said another third-party veterinarian will visit the facility annually to ensure objectivity, in addition to three monthly visits by his staff. Unless there are egregious violations of the permit’s requirements, Hendrickson said, the county should exercise a level of reason.

“Our goal is to work with them and others to achieve compliance,” he said. “We have to take a step back, take a deep breath and exercise a degree of reasonableness.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2014 at 7:59 PM.