Moment one man brings SEVENTY SIX cats to rescue charity in one car - before they took more from his home to bring total to 112

Published: 11:04 EST, 12 November 2026 | Updated: 11:06 EST, 12 November 2026 A distressed man who said he 'can't do it' loaded 76 cats into his car and dropped them at a rescue shelter.Hector's House Cat Rescue, in Torquay, Devon, received a total of 112 felines from the overwhelmed caller.Of the cats packed into the man's car, 20-30 travelled loose in the footwells or on the dashboard, while others were crammed into crates and stacked on top of one another. Volunteers secured them one by one into carriers and counted them up to 76. The charity then learnt that there were more at the individual's home and organised a collection on November 8, bringing the total cat count to 112. Hector's House founder Zara Oldfield, 58, said: 'In front of our rescue manager was a very upset person.'He said ‘I just can’t do it any more, I need you to take these cats.'We had to move them into the centre. There was no choice. Caged in crates, crawling on the dashboard and loose in the footwells, 76 cats were crammed into the man's car Hector's House Cat and Rescue Team then learnt that there were 36 more cats to be collected from the caller's property Whilst 'underweight' and 'grubby', the charity's founder said that the cats are doing 'remarkably well''We didn’t have space, but we can’t let these cats that are not well stay there. The ones at the bottom of the crate didn’t look well at all.'We had a long chat with the person surrendering these cats and it became clear there were more at his property.'He didn’t know how many more there were.' The shelter contacted RSPCA to see if they had any space for the unexpected new arrivals. Several branches attended to help house the cats. Zara added: 'Because the property was a little away from the car park we created a chain and as we secured the cats we passed them down and put them into the appropriate vans. 'They were all photographed and assessed. Some went straight to the vets because they weren’t well and a couple had breathing difficulties.'The rescue charity was already taking care of 60 cats, split between foster homes and the centre. The new members were then taken to the vets for health checks and neutering. The RSPCA has now taken 47 cats to different branches and Margaret Green Animal Rescue in Tavistock took 16.Five of the cats were returned to the man who dropped them off once they'd been neutered and microchipped. There are 44 cats still in the care of Hector's House Cat and Rescue. Zara said that while the cats are underweight and 'grubby', most are doing 'remarkably well'.