Pierce County family has one week to rehome 22 of their 27 cats
Feb 3, 2026, 5:39 PM | Updated: 5:42 pm
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
One family has found itself in trouble with Pierce County deputies and animal control.
They are in trouble because they have 27 cats. All the cats are well cared for, well fed, and in great veterinary health. There’s only one problem.
“Pierce County currently has limitations on how many animals you can have, which is five, and here we have a home that has 27,” Pierce County Deputy Carly Cappetto said. “The issue at hand is we have, essentially, an illegal animal operation going on inside a home, whether they were aware they were doing that or not.”
Animal control was alerted to the situation by neighbors who were concerned for the cats’ safety. Pierce County code limits the number of animals based on the size of the home.
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Family has until Thursday to rehome 22 cats
Animal control gave the family one week to find homes for 22 cats, or they will be seized. That deadline is this Thursday.
“If something happens to one of them, it happens to all of them. We don’t want to break up a family,” the cats’ owner Carrie Sell-Salazar told KIRO 7. “We just want to take care of these cats until they live their lives. We don’t want to lose them.”
The family hopes to bring their home into compliance by getting any necessary licenses needed to keep all of their cats, rather than having to surrender any of them. They are working with county officials and animal control officers to make that happen. It is not yet clear whether they will be given that time.
“They’re doing this out of good-heartedness with the intention of providing a good home for these cats, but at the same time, being out of compliance is not a good situation to get yourself in,” Cappetto said.
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