The demolition of a blighted building in Lehighton with several dozen cats inside deemed “dangerous” by officials has been delayed.

Borough Manager Dane DeWire said Thursday that demolition of the building at 135-139 N. First St. isn’t yet ready to begin.

“The demolition has been postponed by at least one week because paperwork hasn’t been completed yet on the county’s level,” DeWire said. “We didn’t begin mobilization this week, and we will not be beginning demolition next week.”

DeWire previously said the borough had aimed for a Feb. 12 start date for mobilization, and a Feb. 19 date to begin demolition.

He said the property will still be owned by the current property owner, and added there will be requirements to lift any liens on the property if it is ever transferred or improved.

In the meantime, plans to save several dozen cats inside the building have remained underway, according to Donna Crum, retired Humane Society Police Officer for Carbon County and founder of Blue Mountain Animal Rescue Society.

“We started trapping; we got five (three males and two females) on Sunday, and we had a good Samaritan who offered her garage and we took the traps until they went to the vet,” Crum said. “We set up a temporary holding area for them to be vetted.”

Crum noted that they took them to the vet on Tuesday.

“We had another good Samaritan come forward to use their basement and they are recouping in cages, being fed, some of them have been petted,” she said. “They’ve been calm, they’re eating, drinking; they’re not as feral as what people say.”

Crum added they have been spayed and neutered and rabies shot by Dr. Dawn Mriss.

“Carbon County Friends of Animals donated the distemper vaccinations and will give them for all the ones down there,” she said. “We got a bill from Dr. Dawn for parasites; the first five cost us $140 that we’re taking donations for.”

Crum said that Furry Feet Rescue of Walnutport is donating medication for the parasitic, so that the next five will be taken care of.

She said that food has been donated, both canned and dry and litter has been donated. People have donated cages and carriers, and traps, sardines, tuna and salmon.

“Carbon County Friends of Animals donated also every distemper and feline leukemia test for the cats that we have trapped, they were all negative,” Crum said. “They’re relatively healthy; they’re beautiful cats.”

Crum noted that due to the snow, they lost one trapping day.

There are 28 cats in close proximity to the building that’s set to be demolished, five of which have been rescued, she said.

“Winter is the worst time to try to trap, because you can’t let them sit in there overnight,” Crum said.

Crum said there are three different locations (barns and sanctuaries) that will take up to 12 cats; of those, two of them will take four to five, and the other one will take one or two, ferals or semi-ferals, while some other rescues could (take) one to two adoptables.

“There were 13-16 kittens removed before we even started trapping,” she said. “We see them go into that building. One of the biggest problems with that is about a year ago, someone had broken into the building and were taking antiques, and (the borough) never boarded the other side.

“We know that some go into the building. The majority of them do live elsewhere or find safe haven elsewhere nearby. There are other safe places for them to get shelter.”

Crum said the cats are clean and appear healthy. “They are well fed, they are actually clean about themselves. We have seen very few that seem to have medical problems; I’m amazed at how domicile some of them actually are.

“We’ve had none lunge, they’re not causing havoc. All in all, everything’s going smooth,” she said.

Crum is hoping to enlist help from other rescues. “Time is of the essence. We’re still looking for volunteers for transports.”

Crum said anyone interested may contact her at 610-703-6558, or visit www.bmars.org, or the Facebook page or message.

DeWire said he previously stressed to Crum and any other volunteers that the building, and the property it sits on, are both off limits to anyone.

“Any trapping efforts will be happening from neighboring properties whose owners have already approved of Donna and her volunteers being there,” DeWire said.

He noted that Carbon County “is not able to allocate any funding to the rescue efforts, and likewise, the borough does not have a financial stake in the situation either.”

Crum welcomes donations of food and money so the cats can be neutered and spayed.

Last month, the Carbon County commissioners awarded the demolition contract for 135-139 N. First St., to low bidder Northeast Industrial Services Corp. of Shamokin. The company bid $186,435 for demolishing and clearing the property.

DeWire said if there are any rescues or shelters for stray and feral cats, to reach out to the borough in the hopes there can be a combined effort for the animals.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein said last month that if you look at the back of the building from the bypass, “it’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

Nothstein said the windows are missing, there are holes in the floor and the roof is caving in.

Should there be a fire, Nothstein said firefighters would not go inside the structure, but feared for neighboring businesses, which could be lost due to the proximity.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner added that this is a great starting point in addressing blight. Lehighton has saved three years of Community Development Block Grant funds for the project.