60 cats rescued from abandoned boat anchored off Washington state
Police in Tacoma, Washington, say they have rescued 60 cats and kittens from an abandoned sailboat that was found anchored off a city beach last week.
Updated on: August 13, 2026 / 8:27 AM EDT / CBS News
Sixty cats and kittens have now been rescued from an abandoned sailboat that was found anchored off a beach in Washington state, police said.
The 40-foot boat, initially spotted earlier this month in waters near Tacoma's Owen Beach, remains the focal point of an active criminal investigation as well as an ongoing search for additional felines that may have evaded law enforcement so far.
"While we believe we have safely removed all of the cats from the boat, as any cat owner knows, cats are exceptionally good at hiding," the Tacoma Police Department wrote in a social media post shared Wednesday. "Because there is always a possibility that a cat may remain [on board], our work isn't quite finished."
After nearly a week spent locating and carefully collecting each cat from the vessel, the police department reported Tuesday that officers and Tacoma Animal Control crews had finally removed the last one.
"The final cat is off the boat," the department wrote in a social media post shared Tuesday. "Fur real this time!"