Cats peer through grated windows down a service lane behind the main street of a muggy, overcast Thames.

In a nondescript white building in the coastal town, residents are concerned about what they call a 'cat prison”; a barren room where moggies meow and climb barred windows to try and escape.

The owners are living rough in their car so they can afford to house the cats.

They deny any mistreatment.

However, they do not have resource consent to run a cat-breeding operation at the site, and have been given five days to either comply or vacate the premises.

Thames-Coromandel District Council​ and the SPCA are investigating.

A Thames woman, who didn't want to be named, says she was told about the cats on Service Lane Seven just before Christmas.

As an animal lover and former vet she is 'horrified”.

She says when she went to see the building for herself she saw cats with 'coughs and sniffles”, and some appeared to be malnourished.

There are more than 40 cats living in the commercial building, but the owners say none are being mistreated. Photo: Dominico Zapata/Stuff.

Concerned for their welfare, she complained to Thames-Coromandel District Council​, the SPCA, police, Coromandel MP Scott Simpson​, mayor Sandra Goudie​ and the Ministry for Primary Industries​.

'I'm in tears, I'm just distraught for the cats,” the woman says.

'Nothing is being done. These cats have been there [since] before Christmas, and apparently one or two of them escaped and got into the sandpit of the kindy next door.”

The building was ripe with the smell of cat urine when Stuff visited last week.

Cat owners Eve and Graeme Belmont say they have been breeding them for around four years.

'We fell into it by accident. We really love cats and have always got along with animals more than people,” Graeme says.

They say they moved from Dargaville in December.

The couple chose the building in Thames due to its cheap rent, and planned to renovate the property.

'We are living in our car at the moment, because we're tight on money,” Graeme says.

The couple say they had been selling cats on Trade Me but are taking a break while the cats settle into their new home.

They deny neglecting or mistreating any of the cats.

Cat breeders Eve and Graeme Belmont have had trouble finding suitable accommodation for their cats. Photo: Dominico Zapata/Stuff.

Initially the couple didn't allow Stuff inside the building to see the animals, because 'there's flooding issues”.

However, when a Stuff reporter and photographer returned a week later they were permitted to enter.

Around 20 cats were seen – alarmed by the presence of strangers, yet friendly.

Mother cats and their litters were in large crates against the walls, and male cats were kept separately in another room.

There was a range of breeds including Russian Blues, Burmese and Siamese, and Birman.

There were also a few moggies, which Eve says the couple had 'fallen in love with, but there's no money in them”.

All cats appeared to be in a healthy condition with access to food, water and litter trays.

Thames-Coromandel District Council communications manager Laurna White​ says a complaint was received on December 23, and the council's bylaw team visited the site that same week.

'The couple who lease the building showed our staff member around and explained the cats were their pets,” she says.

An SPCA spokesperson confirms the organisation has been alerted to the situation and is investigating.

Eve says the SPCA requested the cats have ventilation, so the couple created a make-shift gate so the garage door could stay up.

There are no specific rules or requirements for breeding establishments, but breeders do have to comply with the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and the Animal Welfare (Companion Cats) Code of Welfare 2007.

White says if the couple planned to run a cat-breeding business from the site, they will need resource consent.

'They indicated this was a long-term plan and are aware a consent will be needed.”

It will cost an initial deposit of $2100 for the council to process a non-complying resource consent, and enforcement action could be brought against any person who was found to have breached the Resource Management Act.

Laura says an animal boarding or breeding facility will be a non-complying activity under the council's Proposed District Plan.

When asked if they had resource consent, Graeme says the couple didn't realise it was required until it was raised by the council.

'In Dargaville I suppose, the council is a little more relaxed because we didn't have one there.”

Since the council and SPCA have come knocking, the landlord has given them five days to get resource consent or leave, Graeme says.

'We don't know what to do now.”

-Stuff/Sharane Hope