Upland Police Rescue Hundreds of Cats in a Hoarding Case Tied to a Cat Rescue Nonprofit

Upland police seized hundreds of cats from two units in an 11th Street business park on Monday, in what they are calling an animal-hoarding case tied to a Southern California nonprofit.

The nonprofit is called Furget Me Not Purebred. It also operates a boarding facility listed as Purradise Luxury Cat Hotel and Spa.

No charges have been filed. The owner, Ewa Konca, was interviewed at her Claremont home.

What Officers Found

Sgt. Eric DiVincenzo of the Upland Police Department described what prompted the seizure.

“The malnourishment, the neglect, injuries that aren’t being treated, cats being brought in that already had a preexisting injury that wasn’t treated correctly, and it was turning into something much worse,” he said.

Videos from a former employee, which became part of a civil lawsuit filed by neighboring businesses, showed cramped and unsanitary conditions, injured cats and animal cages stacked in a bathroom.

Hundreds of cats were moved to neighboring city, county and private shelters.

Five Years of Complaints

Ku’ulei Reyes, office manager at Comfort and Hays Electric, works next door to the nonprofit in the same business park. She said the situation was manageable when Furget Me Not moved in five years ago.

“A smell of ammonia. At times, when the summer heat, it would really amplify,” Reyes told CBS LA.

Her employer filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit after conditions worsened. Other businesses joined, saying the smell triggered allergic reactions and turned away customers.

After years of litigation and calls to animal services, the police raid resulted in the seizure Monday.

Two Very Different Accounts

The picture is not simple, and CBS LA captured both sides of it.

Two current employees of Furget Me Not called Konca a hero who would travel thousands of miles to pick up cats on the kill list. The intention, they said, was to save animals that would otherwise be euthanized.

Reyes acknowledged the same thing.

“Maybe the intention started off being in the right place,” she said. “I think when you talk about the magnitude of how many cats were being stored at her home as well as these different locations, how do you manage that many animals in such a confined space?”

That question is also how California law looks at cases like this. The state distinguishes between malicious cruelty and neglect through inadequate care. A nonprofit founder who started with good intentions and ended up unable to manage the scale of what she built falls more naturally into the second category.

What the Law Covers

Under California Penal Code 597, animal neglect and hoarding can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances and criminal history.

A misdemeanor conviction carries up to one year in county jail and fines of up to $20,000. A felony carries 16 months, two or three years in state prison and the same maximum fine.

Courts can also order the permanent removal of animals and ban a person from owning them.

No charges have been filed in this case. Konca was interviewed, not arrested. The distinction matters.

Why This Matters

What happened at Furget Me Not is not rare. Rescue organizations that start with a clear mission and limited resources can accumulate animals faster than they can care for them.

The Walker, Louisiana case from earlier this month involved a business called Waffles Way Home, which also appeared to have started as a cat welfare operation. Seventeen cats were found dead in a nearly 100 degree building. The operator faced 66 charges.

Upland’s outcome, with hundreds of cats alive and in care, is better than that. Whether the conditions that led to this were neglect, an impossible situation, or something in between is what the investigation will have to determine.

Understanding what sustainable cat rescue actually looks like is part of why the gap between intention and outcome matters so much in cases like this. The cats do not experience the intention.

PFOA, the nonprofit involved in the Sequim cat case this week, noted it is currently full. Capacity is the word that runs through all of these cases.

What do you think distinguishes rescue from hoarding? Tell us in the comments.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. No charges have been filed. These are allegations, not convictions. Contact local authorities for guidance on reporting animal welfare concerns.