|
'Caustic and nasty.' Officials rescue 118 cats
It was in a way, a giant litterbox. A St. Anthony couple, in their 50's, is accused of hoarding stray cats and keeping them locked up in their 500 square foot mobile home. "The best way to describe that environment was caustic and nasty as one can assume after 120-130 animals have been living there for 5 years without sanitary maintenance," Animal Humane Society investigator Keith Streff said. Humane Society officials said the couple took in stray cats, one at a time, and housed them at their residence. The cats were fed, but little else was done. "The floor was soaked thru with urine and rotting the floorboards. It was oozing out the door and the odor was consistent with that description," Streff said. 118 of the cats were brought to the Golden Valley Humane Society. Veterinarians are hopeful they will all survive, but many of them are very sick. "Some of the smaller kittens are sick with a bad upper repertory condition and the adults are on the thin side," Kathie Johnson of the Humane Society said. The home is uninhabitable at this point. Authorities say the couple was living among the cats and sleeping on a floor. "They were living and sleeping inside the trailer. They relegated the kitchen space to a living space and slept on the floor among the debris in the kitchen area," Streff said. Authorities say the couple had feces on their shoes and pants when they were evacuated from the mobile home. They may face criminal charges after the Humane Society gives its report to the city attorney. And what is worse, Streff says animal hoarders like this will do it again. "In my experience the recidivism rate for animal hoarding is 100% and this proves it." The husband in this couple was charged criminally in Coon Rapids in 2002 for hoarding 72 cats in his home. They have not yet been charged with any crimes; it's KARE 11's policy generally to not name suspects in crimes until they're charged. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
|
 MORE HEADLINES |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
