Police In Washington Boarded A Ghost Ship And Found 40 Cats. It Looked Like A Studio Ghibli Movie.

On August 6, 2026, officers from the Tacoma Police Department's Marine Services Unit responded to reports of an abandoned sailboat anchored off Owen Beach in Tacoma, Washington. They expected to find an empty vessel. Instead, they found a boat full of cats. More than 40 of them. "The best way I can describe it is it looked like a Studio Ghibli movie," said responding officer John Correa. "It was their boat, and they were all out and about roaming around on it." The cats were frightened and malnourished, and conditions were unsanitary. But food and water had been provided, suggesting the cats had not been completely abandoned so much as left without their owner. By the following afternoon, 31 cats had been gently corralled into carriers and transported by boat to the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County. Animal control officers described the rescue as one of the most unusual they had ever conducted. "Unlike a normal case, we do need assistance with getting out there by boat," said Cheri Page of Tacoma Animal Control. "And then there's the challenge of the boat itself — pretty close quarters, and because it is a sailboat there's a lot of nooks and crannies for cats to hide in."

An investigation was still ongoing as of August 10, with no arrests made. Page said the situation is a reminder of why spaying and neutering matters. "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," she said. The cats are being cared for at the Tacoma Humane Society and will need homes. The ghost ship, for now, is quiet.

Source:https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/cats-abandoned-sailboat-rescued-washington-ghost-ship