Town of Gates calls for demolition of home where 209 cats were rescued in 2023

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – The Town of Gates has filed a petition with the New York State Supreme Court calling for the demolition of a home which 209 cats were rescued from in 2023.

The petition cites several significant damage and health risks. This follows the house’s vacancy stemming from an arrest charging one man with animal cruelty and neglect with more than 200 cats found in a home filled with “excrement and garbage.”

Violations listed in the petition include hordes of flies surrounding the property and no garbage service for the property which led to the backyard being filled with piles of black garbage bags.

The petition states the Town of Gates removed ten thirty-yard dumpsters of garbage from the property in addition to the two dumpsters originally placed there

The petition also states that during garbage removal on June 8, 2024, one of the contractors noticed what he believed to be a dead cat and 22 more cats alive inside the home.

Photographs from a search conducted by the Humane Society on June 9, 2023, showed hoarding throughout the property and an interior of the home that was full of feces.

These are just a few of the several violations listed throughout the posted petition.

The Town of Gates then posted ‘No Occupancy’ signs on the home and issued seven appearance tickets to Rheinhardt Belke for violations of various provisions of the Town Code.

The petition calls for the demolition and restoration of the property and asks for all expenses incurred by the Town of Gates including all Court costs and expenses to be assessed against the property provided by law.

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