Squatting has long given homeowners headaches, but a Wyoming contractor may be facing the strangest case yet – a family of feral cats has refused to leave an abandoned home, stalling his renovation.
Dustin Crapo, the owner of Casper-based CbG Construction LLC, is remodeling a house he said has been overrun by cats for well over a year.
He referred to the project as the 'cat squatter house' and told Cowboy State Daily that he believes the property has contributed to the neighborhood's feral cat problem.
Crapo described a filthy mess in the home, with seven litter boxes, carpet soaked in cat urine, windows covered in grime and cabinets completely damaged by the cat's nails.
The renovation team has been forced to use respirators and dust masks while working.
'Moldy cat food was stuffed all the way down the drain,' Crapo continued. 'It almost made me puke both times. I had to pull that out.'
Crapo's construction firm was hired by a real estate acquisition company to remodel the home.
Since he started the project in May, he has removed the flooring, replaced the drywall, treated the house with an enzyme and coated the property with an odor-blocking primer.
A property in Casper, Wyoming, has been overrun by a family of 'cat squatters' as contractors ambitiously attempt to restore the home. One of the cats is pictured above in a trap
Dustin Crapo said his construction company was hired to restore the home. They have had to remove flooring, drywall and gut the house after it was overrun by feral cats
Casper has struggled with a feral cat problem. The town recently implemented a program to trap, neuter and return the cats instead of euthanizing them (file photo of a stray cat)
Despite that, the cats have remained and Crapo said the 'ungodly stench' from their reign has yet to leave the home.
Crapo, pictured above, has pressed city officials on why they will not help him with the cat problem
Casper has struggled with a feral cat problem. The city's Metro Animal Services has launched the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Program to manage the issue.
The city council passed the TNR law in 2023 to prohibit killing cats while still controlling the feral population.
Before the ordinance, animal services could euthanize feral cats. The city also proposed a ban on feeding them in 2020, but animal rights groups fought back and the proposal was dropped.
Crapo said that when he reached out to animal services for help capturing the cats, he was told that he either had to do it himself or bring the cats to them.
'What do my tax dollars pay for if I'm doing all their work for them?' Crapo questioned in a post on Facebook earlier this week.
'I called Metro and told them, "Well, I trapped it for you. You gonna come get it?"' he told Cowboy State Daily.
The family of stray cats has made the renovation project increasingly difficult and has resulted in a complete gutting of the house
When he tried to bring the cat to animal services, he was told that the shelter was already full.
The contractor added that he was not given a reason as to why animal services would not trap the cats themselves.
Crapo said the project was the worst he's seen. He recalled a rehabilitation project where his crew found over 1,000 used syringes, cat urine and vomit, but said the cat squatter house is worse.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Metro Animal Services for comment.
