OLYPHANT, Pa. — Nearly two dozen officers with the ASPCA have been coming in and out of a home on Gravity Avenue in Olyphant for what they call a "cat situation."
Members of the Lackawanna County Humane Society and officers from the Olyphant Borough Police Department served a search warrant at the home along the 100 block of Gravity Avenue in Olyphant just before 9 a.m.
The ASPCA Disaster Rescue Team out of New York was called to assist the Humane One after another. Newswatch 16 saw more than 100 cats brought out in plastic and steel cages, covered in towels, and agents loaded them into one van after another. As the investigation continued, the neighbors, who wish to remain anonymous, said they were surprised to see all the activity.
"Always good neighbor, so we're not in any way thinking that he's done a bad thing. He's been very, very kind to the animals that he's taken in and a good neighbor to us," said a neighbor.
According to property records obtained by Newswatch 16, the property is registered to QSP Enterprises, LLC. Those records show the same company is linked to a building on Madison Avenue in Dunmore, which is the location of Quigley's Shelter Pets. Scott Babinski is the executive director of the shelter. He spoke to Newswatch 16 about the ongoing investigation.
"We are happy the cats are going to be cared for, which was our main goal the whole time. So we're sort of surprised that it happened this way," said Scott Babinski, Quigley's Shelter Pets.
Babinski and neighbors in Olyphant say the shelter has been operating in the home for years.
"Brokenhearted over this because those poor cats are being uprooted for, in my opinion, no reason. But I know he loves the cats," said a resident.
This is a developing story, and Newswatch 16 will provide you with more information as soon as it becomes available.