37 cats get rescued following collapse of Lindy’s Diner

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PROPERTY DUMPING AND LITTERING ARE ALL ILLEGAL ON U.S. FOREST SERVICE GROUNDS. AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY IN LINDY’S DINER. SOME FELINE FRIENDS WERE FOUND IN THE NOW DILAPIDATED BUILDING THAT COLLAPSED EARLIER THIS MONTH. WE’RE TOLD. NEARLY 40 CATS WERE FOUND INSIDE THAT BUILDING THIS WEEK. THE CATS ARE NOW IN THE C

37 cats get rescued following collapse of Lindy’s Diner

The diner’s owners surrendered the cats to the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department.

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Updated: 10:16 AM MDT May 21, 2026

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The collapse of the Lindy’s Diner building, a culinary landmark for many years on Central Avenue that was flagged as structurally endangered, still came as a big surprise. Also a big surprise was that the diner’s owners asked the city to take care of the 37 cats that were still living there. Susan Ellis, associate director of Albuquerque’s Animal Welfare Department, coordinated the relocation of the cats that were well taken care of but whose population had exploded. READ MORE: CITY EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR LINDY’S DINER DECISION | VIDEO SHOWS MOMENT LINDY’S DINER COLLAPSES “The main thing this teaches us is, if you have a couple cats, get them spayed and neutered because this can quickly get out of hand,” Ellis said. “That’s usually the case with hoarding cases. It becomes overwhelming — like two becomes five, five becomes 10, and it just keeps going until they have no control over it.” Eighteen of the cats have already been adopted, Ellis said, while the rest were distributed to several locations. Some are at the Animal Welfare Dept. headquarters, a couple went to the AWD West clinic, and some went to the Winrock and Renaissance PetSmart stores. Seven kittens went to one of their rescue partners. If somebody wants to adopt one of these cats, Ellis said they should stop by the AWD building at 11800 Sunset Gardens Road SW and pick one, Ellis said. The available cats can also be seen online at cabq.gov.

The collapse of the Lindy’s Diner building, a culinary landmark for many years on Central Avenue that was flagged as structurally endangered, still came as a big surprise. Also a big surprise was that the diner’s owners asked the city to take care of the 37 cats that were still living there.

Susan Ellis, associate director of Albuquerque’s Animal Welfare Department, coordinated the relocation of the cats that were well taken care of but whose population had exploded.

READ MORE: CITY EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR LINDY’S DINER DECISION | VIDEO SHOWS MOMENT LINDY’S DINER COLLAPSES

“The main thing this teaches us is, if you have a couple cats, get them spayed and neutered because this can quickly get out of hand,” Ellis said. “That’s usually the case with hoarding cases. It becomes overwhelming — like two becomes five, five becomes 10, and it just keeps going until they have no control over it.”

Eighteen of the cats have already been adopted, Ellis said, while the rest were distributed to several locations. Some are at the Animal Welfare Dept. headquarters, a couple went to the AWD West clinic, and some went to the Winrock and Renaissance PetSmart stores. Seven kittens went to one of their rescue partners.

If somebody wants to adopt one of these cats, Ellis said they should stop by the AWD building at 11800 Sunset Gardens Road SW and pick one, Ellis said. The available cats can also be seen online at cabq.gov.



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