From: Janelle Babington
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2026 4:29 PM
To: sara_gorman@homedepot.com; public_relations@homedepot.com
Cc: traci9201@me.com; ted_decker@homedepot.com; ann-marie_campbell@homedepot.com; isabel_janci@homedepot.com; investor_relations@homedepot.com
Subject: Urgent Request for Home Depot Response Regarding Community Cats at Lake City Store #6864
Dear Mr. Decker, Ms. Campbell, Ms. Gorman, and Home Depot Leadership:
Animal Victory is a nationwide animal advocacy and petition organization with more than 6.7 million signatures and 74 documented victories. We received the email copied and pasted below and a link to this Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1349289467017445
The post was published by Florida Sir of Eyes Wide Open Media, a highly respected digital content creator and journalist with approximately 243,000 TikTok followers and 236,000 Instagram followers. Animal Victory does not represent any of the involved parties, and we have not independently verified the claims. We are writing out of concern for the people and cats involved and would like to give Home Depot an opportunity to respond before we consider any public action.
We are particularly concerned about the compassionate side of this situation. The email states that an older caregiver has cared for these cats for approximately six years. She reportedly paid to have them sterilized and vaccinated, found homes for more than 15 cats, and now has only two left. The email also states that a disabled neighbor’s missing cat was seen at the store, yet both women were ordered away. The caregiver reportedly left in tears, and the neighbor was distraught over her missing cat.
THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW:
1. Is the information contained in the email below and the Facebook post accurate? If any part is inaccurate, please tell us specifically what is incorrect.
2. Was this caregiver permitted to care for the cats at this Home Depot location for approximately six years? If she was previously permitted to do so, what changed and why?
3. Does Home Depot dispute that she paid to have the cats sterilized and vaccinated and found homes for more than 15 of them?
4. If only two cats remain, what specifically prevents Home Depot from allowing her to finish? Why can she not retrieve the remaining cats under supervision, sign a liability waiver, and comply with reasonable safety requirements?
5. Was the disabled neighbor prevented from trying to recover her own missing cat? If so, why? Where was the compassion in that decision?
We urge Home Depot to read the Facebook post and reconsider its position immediately unless there are substantial legal grounds under applicable law, documented safety concerns, or material facts that we have not been told. If such reasons exist, please identify the specific law, policy, safety concern, or facts supporting Home Depot’s decision.
We recognize that Home Depot has the right to control access to its property. We are not questioning that right. We want to understand why, after this caregiver was reportedly allowed to help these cats for approximately six years and successfully found homes for more than 15 of them, she is now being prevented from safely retrieving the final two cats. What changed, and what is the actual problem?
In the world we live in, we could all use more compassion. This is an opportunity for Home Depot to show it. If the concerns are verified and remain unresolved, Animal Victory will create awareness among our more than 300,000 followers and contact local and national media. We will also consider launching a nationwide petition calling for a Home Depot boycott until there is a humane resolution.
Will you please verify the information in the email below and explain Home Depot’s position?
P.S. Have you ever heard the story of Francine? Francine was a beloved calico cat who had lived at a Richmond, Virginia, Lowe’s store for nearly a decade. In September 2025, she accidentally hitched a ride on a freight truck and traveled approximately 85 miles south to a distribution center in Garysburg, North Carolina. After security footage revealed what had happened, Lowe’s employees, animal control officers, professional trappers, and members of the community worked together to bring Francine safely home.
Read the AP News story: https://apnews.com/article/missing-lowes-store-cat-francine-found-e65a342b7fbe6611bc4e2f6ba2765b48
These are the places we want to patronize. This is the world we want to live in.
Sincerely,
Janelle Babington
Founder and CEO
Animal Victory
1319 Military Cutoff Road, Suite CC, Unit #101
Wilmington, NC 28405
📞 800-634-3439
✉️Info@animalvictory.org
From: Traci Richard
To: Janelle Babington
Subject: Re: Response Requested
Sorry
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 19, 2026, at 10:24 AM, Traci Richard
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Traci Richard
To: ted_decker@homedepot.com, ann-marie_campbell@homedepot.com, sara_gorman@homedepot.com, investor_relations@homedepot.com, isabel_janci@homedepot.com
Cc: Jodi Sanzo Waits
Subject: Response Requested
My name is Traci Richard. I am writing on behalf of the longtime caregiver who was ordered out of your Lake City, Florida store on September 12.
The Home Depot
215 SW Home Depot Drive, Lake City, FL 32025
Store #6864 · (386) 755-0761
Manager: Rachel
Video: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1bJUSoNaJw/?mibextid=wwXIfr
On Saturday, September 12, 2026, just before 11 a.m., this caregiver went into the store to speak with Rachel about a small colony of cats living in the woods behind the property.
She has been caring for those cats for years. She trapped them. She paid to have them fixed and vaccinated. She removed more than 15 and placed them in loving homes. She adopted many herself. She told Rachel she had only two left to trap.
Rachel interrupted her and told her to leave the store or she would call the law. Rachel said she would have her arrested if she is seen on the property. Rachel said she had hired a company to trap the cats. The caregiver pleaded to finish the last two. Rachel refused.
She was with a disabled neighbor whose own cat had wandered from a nearby home and was seen at that Home Depot. Rachel said the caregiver could not trap that cat for her either and ordered them off the property again.
She was not belligerent. She did not disrespect the manager. She left in tears. The disabled woman with her was distraught over her beloved cat. There was no compassion.
Those last two cats do not deserve a private removal company. Paid “cat removal” too often means the animals are dumped or taken to a facility they do not leave alive. These cats will be terrified. They are already sterilized. This volunteer already reduced the colony the humane way. Two cats is what your manager would not allow her to finish.
A signed waiver solves the liability excuse. One phone call from corporate solves the rest. Lowe’s has gone out of its way for a missing store cat. This manager would not let the person who already fixed and rehomed this colony complete the job.
I am asking you to call Rachel at the Lake City store today and instruct her to stand down. Let the remaining cats be taken by the caregiver who already sterilized, vaccinated, and homed the rest. Do not trespass the feeder. Do not hand these animals to a paid trapper.
If this becomes a public fight, customers will remember it. It does not have to. One call from Atlanta ends it.
“The righteous care for the needs of their animals.” — Proverbs 12:10
Please act before those last two cats are gone.
Traci Richard
803-622-4748
Traci9201@me.com