Residents of a Saskatchewan community are raising concerns following the death of a woman at a home where more than 40 cats were later rescued.

Wynyard RCMP conducted a wellness check at a home in the community on Jan. 2. Officers found two women, one of whom was dead. The other woman was connected with necessary health care, according to RCMP.

“People did know these ladies. They had been sort of shut ins for a long time but, everybody that knew them liked them,” said Justin Thordarson, who lives in the area and volunteers at Mozart Sympawthy Animal Sanctuary Inc. (MSASI).

“They were not ostracized in the community. People did like them.”

The home, which featured boarded up windows and was warmed by space heaters, was also filled with garbage piled several feet high.

MSASI was called in to help with removing cats from the home.

Veronica Hermiston, the director and founder of MSASI, said volunteers have rescued 41 cats as of Wednesday. She believes more are still inside the house.

“They are just coming out of nowhere. We’re not sure where they were so it could be quite a few more,” Hermiston explained.

A close family friend of the deceased, who wished not to be identified citing privacy concerns, described the woman as “an incredible person” and called for better support for those going through mental health challenges.

“It’s really sad it had to come to this. I wish someone would’ve stepped in sooner,” they told CTV News. “She fed the animals better than she fed herself … the health system let them down.”

Hermiston said it is common for owners to care for dozens of pets at a time.

“We go into homes and we help people that have overpopulation problems with cats and dogs,” she said. “We could have helped sooner for sure or just taken them a little bit at a time from the family, things like that, preventative care.”

Preventative measures pet owners could take is getting their cats neutered or spayed, she added.

“Our mindset needs to change on how we care for animals and the welfare of animals in our province,” Hermiston said.

“This is not the first time. We’ve seen double the amount of cats in a hoarding situation. This is nothing compared to what we have seen and that’s not anything to be proud of because almost every community has this condition.”

In addition to MSASI, SOS Prairie Rescue and SCAT Street Cat Rescue also helped remove cats from the home. The cats are now being moved to Saskatoon with plans of being fostered.