Rescued cats no longer living at Houston shelter

HOUSTON — As of Monday evening, the city’s tiny animal shelter is a much less crowded place than it has been for the past several weeks.

Two-dozen cats were rescued from a home in Houston after the bank foreclosed and the owner left town. Most were starving or had other health problems.

The city of Houston, which, unlike nearly every other area of the Mat-Su Borough handles its own animal care issues, was quickly overwhelmed.

“We have all of them fostered out right now except for three, and I think those ones are going out tonight,” Houston Fire Chief Tom Hood said Monday afternoon.

He said he’d just returned from talking with two rescue groups — Clear Creek Cat Rescue and Mat-Su Kitty Rescue — to sort out which group would take which of the last three animals.

Those two rescue groups, as well as residents who heard about the cats, were instrumental in caring for them, he said.

“A lot of donations came in from a lot of different people,” Hood said. “It’s a good success story.”

He said the city had as much food as it needed to care for the animals, most of it donated.

Both of the cat rescue groups have websites — sites.google.com/site/clearcreekcatrescue and mvkrescue.webs.com — where interested would-be cat owners can check out the animals available to take home.

The home they were seized from is on Leprechaun Drive in the Enchanted Forest subdivision. Everyone who responded to rescue the cats described the area in vivid terms as housing piles of garbage with cat waste everywhere. Dead cats were found on the property.

Some of the Houston firefighters called out to corral the cats suffered scratches during the ordeal. Hood had to take time off work as his doctor worried about an infection. But the cats seemed to mellow out once they were safe and receiving regular food.

The homeowners, Fred and Debra Hallamek, appear to have left the state. Fred Hallamek was once second-in-command of the fire department under a previous chief.

Hood said that even without the cats there anymore, the shelter isn’t quite empty — there are still a few dogs there.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.