10/02/2026
Fellow cat people I'd like to call your attention to something that's happened in Florida.
As a long time TNR practitioner who has worked alongside rescues who manage colonies in some of our local shopping centers, I have seen firsthand and participated myself in caring for these tightly managed colonies.
A TNR colony  at a The Home Depot in Florida has been completely eliminated, even though the colony was cared for, and the cats were fixed and not reproducing.
A new manager came into that Home Depot, and in order to make a name for herself, she decided that the colony was a nuisance and had them disposed of.
She didn't talk to the caretaker about relocation. In fact, she trespassed the caretaker for feeding instead of having an open dialogue.
 then two of the cats were found dead
And the rest were missing
People protested outside of that store, and the manager told the public that the cats have been taken to the local Humane Society
She lied. That local Humane Society issued a public statement saying that they did not receive those cats and they are not involved in this and they don't know anything about it.
We don't know if the cats were trapped and released somewhere else, or if they were trapped by a local exterminator and killed.
Home Depot corporate will not compel the manager to speak truthfully about the fate of the colony.
 today, friends – I am asking you to be their voice
Follow this Rescue. If you can donate to them, that would be amazing, because they have retained an attorney and will need help with that.
The other important things you can do:
Share the posts from this Rescue regarding the Home Depot cats.
use to keep this visible.
the most important and impactful thing you can do is to
and for some extra oomph, feel free to reach out to Home Depot corporate, and let them know why they've lost you as a customer.
please help to hold this manager to account for transparency in what she did with the colony. The caretakers deserve closure.
And the cats deserve justice.
💜🐾💜
corporate info in comments
This was Onyx. 🖤
For six years, Onyx was part of a managed and well-loved cat colony at the Lake City Home Depot.
He had a name.
He had people who fed him.
He had people who watched over him.
He was known.
He was loved.
And now he is gone.
When the colony disappeared, our feeder says two cats were found dead near the feeding area. Onyx's lifeless body is blurred in this photo.
Other cats are still missing.
Where were the cats taken?
Are they safe?
Are they alive?
Those questions remain important because Home Depot’s explanation has now changed.
In a revised statement provided to us, Depot says it was initially told the cats had been taken to a Humane Society. The company now says its contractor later determined the nearby Humane Society was full, and that a licensed specialist instead took the cats to his own property, where Home Depot says he is caring for them alongside other animals.
Really?
After what happened to Onyx, words alone are not enough.
We have repeatedly asked Home Depot for video, photographs or other proof that the remaining cats are alive and safe.
So far, that proof has not been provided.
And that is why Onyx’s story matters so much.
He reminds us that these were not nameless animals wandering through a parking lot.
They were part of a managed colony that had been fed, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, ear-tipped and cared for by volunteers for years. Public reporting confirms that history and that Ranch Rescue has been asking where the cats went and what happened to them.
The Lake City Humane Society has also publicly said it did not receive the cats and that its cattery was closed to intake at the time.
So today, this post is for Onyx.
For the life he lived.
For the people who cared about him.
And for the cats who are still waiting to be accounted for.
Rest peacefully, sweet Onyx. You mattered. You were loved. You will not be forgotten.
And to Home Depot, the request remains simple:
Please show that the remaining cats are alive, safe and accounted for.
Please share Onyx’s story. The more people who see his face, the harder it becomes for these cats to simply disappear from the conversation.
The Home Depot
