On October 7th, 2021, Draper City is tearing down the Dale T Smith & Sons Inc and surrounding apartments to free up space for new apartments. Normally, when a city tears down buildings, a city official is sent to the area to ensure that there is no life. Due to an internal error, this vital step was missed before tearing down the building.
Dani Braun, the founder of Kitty CrusAIDe said, “Someone called us Wednesday (October 6th) because they saw a kitten in the rubble. In only two days since, we have found 19 cats/kittens saved so far and probably 10 more that need to be trapped.” A tripod (cat with three legs), 3-month-old kittens, massive Tomcats, and many more were all found underneath the rubble. All 19 of these cats were roaming around in hazardous and unsafe conditions.
Draper City is not a community cat-friendly city. If these cats begin to cause too much of a problem, Animal Control will euthanize or kill these stray cats.
Kitty CrusAIDe has partnered with local animal rescue organizations in the Salt Lake Valley such as the Humane Society, Nuzzles and CO, Orchadanimalreach.org, and Students for Animals to help solve this massive problem. All of these organizations have contributed to helping get all of these cat’s checkups and getting them spayed, neutered, and vaccinated against diseases.
And this isn’t just a problem in Draper. All over Utah, buildings are being torn down without being inspected for animals living there. This leads to animals being squashed or trampled to death with furniture or heavy objects.
If you see a stray or feral cat, there is always a chance that there is a colony nearby. In this situation, please get in touch with local animal rescue organizations such as Kitty CrusAIDe or the Humane Society.
Due to this situation, Kitty CrusAIDe is experiencing new medical expenses. If you can, please make a donation to Kitty CrusAIDe to help cover all the expenses with this situation. If you are interested in volunteering, fill out an application on their website. Also, please support students4animals.org by buying some merch so we can continue to spread awareness for animal issues in our community.