It was a rescue mission of feline proportions. Authorities in Washington state have pulled 60 cats and kittens off an abandoned sailboat that had been floating in the waters off Owen Beach, according to local reports.
The Tacoma Police Department’s Marine Services Unit launched the operation last week after someone tipped them off about a possibly abandoned vessel anchored near the beach, Fox News reported Wednesday. What started as a routine check quickly turned into a multi-day animal rescue that had officers counting cats, then recounting them, as more and more furry stowaways kept appearing.
“When they entered the boat, the cats had all repositioned into the kitchen and were looking at us,” one of the rescuers told KOMO News, describing a scene that sounds equal parts adorable and eerie β a full boat’s worth of cats apparently deciding to meet the intruders as a unified front.
Some of the animals were frightened. Some were malnourished. But according to Tacoma Animal Control’s Cheri Page, most were in surprisingly decent shape, with food and water apparently having been left for them.
“People start with just a few cats and they’re not spayed or neutered, and unfortunately they do what cats do, and make more cats,” Page told KOMO. “That’s why at Tacoma Animal Control, we really emphasize that you spay and neuter your cats, and dogs.”
That’s the kind of math that turned a small clowder into a full-blown colony β and turned a routine marine patrol into an operation that spanned several days.
A Running Tally β and a Pun
As crews worked through the boat, they kept discovering cats in hiding spots that seemed tailor-made for feline evasion. Police acknowledged that cats are experts at concealment, and the sailboat offered plenty of nooks and crannies.
On Tuesday, the department marked a milestone on social media: the 60th cat had been captured. Their announcement came with a wink: “That’s all for meow!”
The line was a hit, but the work wasn’t quite done. Police said additional searches would be conducted under a search warrant to make sure no cats were left behind.
Foster Homes and an Impound Notice
The rescued cats were taken to the Humane Society, where many were quickly placed in foster homes to recover from their time at sea, according to KOMO.
As for the boat itself, officials have posted a notice on the abandoned vessel, and if no one steps forward to claim it within a matter of days, it will be impounded, per Fox News.
No charges have been filed yet, but officials are investigating potential animal cruelty charges in connection with the case.
The saga serves as a reminder, Page suggested, that a few unaltered cats can quickly spiral into dozens β especially in an environment like a boat where there’s nowhere for kittens to go and no easy way for owners to manage the population boom.
For now, the 60 survivors β some shy, some scrawny, all apparently alive β are safe on land, trading a driftwood-and-seawater life for foster homes and, eventually, hopefully, permanent ones.
As one Tacoma PD social media follower might put it: purr-obably the best ending available.
Source: www.breitbart.com β https://www.breitbart.com/health/2026/08/13/video-officers-rescue-60-cats-from-abandoned-sailboat-in-washington-thats-all-for-meow/