30 Cats Taken From 'Urine Lacquered' Home

[matcom]

<snip>

MISHAWAKA, Ind. --Authorities have removed 30 cats from a northern Indiana house and say as many as 40 more cats may remain.

Representatives of the St. Joseph County Humane Society, Mishawaka Police Department and Mishawaka Code Enforcement went to the home on Friday after receiving a complaint from a neighbor. They discovered cat urine and fecal matter throughout the house, where three people lived.

"Everything was covered in a lacquer of yellow urine," said Eric Durcinka, executive director of the Humane Society. "You were better off standing outside. The smell was nauseating."

Throughout the house were cats running from room to room and using floor vents as tunnels to navigate, a police report said. Several of the cats seemed sickly and a couple of them had eye injuries, possibly from fights between the animals.

Durcinka said the cats were in terrible shape, covered in parasites and suffering from diseases.

The police report estimated that between 50 and 75 cats were found inside the house in the city just east of South Bend. Durcinka said the other cats hid under the house and that the Humane Society would return to try and catch the rest of the cats.

Mishawaka police turned the case over to the Humane Society and other local agencies, including the health department.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/06/07/authorities_remove_30_cats_from_ind_home?mode=PF

[kittenpants]

1. eeww, poor kitties. but on a bright note, I love the use of 'lacquer'

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

2. Urine Lacquer

Coming soon to a Home Depot near you!

[AngryAmish]

3. House of squalor

Why people own cats is beyond me.

[kick-ass-bob]

4. Usually people don't own 50 of them.

But maybe I'm wrong.
:eyes:

[Terran]

5. Because if you treat them right, they love you back.

Any animal that's abused and neglected will do what these 50 cats did, including any animals that you own. Why people say such ignorant things is beyond me.

[Zuni]

6. cats are good pets

as long as you don't put 60 or so in a house of course

[Mizmoon]

7. Funny, I always wondered why people kept dogs

We only have one because my husband wanted one. I love her but she's demanding and expensive - I would never have one on my own.

The cats are mine and I enjoy them far, far more. They are low maintainance pets. Of course, I've only got two of them, which means no urine lacquer for us ...

[mondo joe]

8. "Using floor vents as tunnels to navigate"? Cool!

Like a kitty habitrail!

[lpbk2713]

9. If I lived next to that house

I would insist that it be burned down. It can't possibly be put back to normal condition again.

[Serial Mom]

10. More cats! ... "Mental test ordered over cats"

Well D'uh ...

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/may05/328297.asp


Waukesha - In what authorities are calling the worst case of cat neglect ever seen in Waukesha County, a woman charged with hoarding more than 250 cats in squalor in a home in Ottawa was ordered Monday to undergo a mental competency examination

The examination for Margaret Sue Jamel, 48, was ordered during her initial court appearance on charges that say 193 live and 65 dead cats were taken from the home by Humane Animal Welfare Society personnel and the Dousman Fire Department. The workers donned boots, rubber gloves and respirators as they went room by room through the fetid home, where several areas had wall-to-wall cat urine and feces.

<snip>

The stench was so overpowering that even respirators were unable to prevent officers' eyes from burning and watering as they worked amid piles of cat feces and floors soaked with urine.

[kick-ass-bob]

11. In a "rented home"

hope they had a helluva pet deposit!

[kittenpants]

12. at what # of cats are you officially crazy?

I have two so I think I'm okay?!

[Serial Mom]

13. 250 seems about right to me for judge to order mental exam

Yuck!

[Love Bug]

14. Anyone see the Donohue where they showed a home with 700 cats?

This couple ran a shelter in their home and had 700 cats -- yes, 700. Honest to god, their house looked like the bridge of the Enterprise with all the Tribbles! The cats were everywhere -- on counters, on top of the stove, the fridge, cabinet tops, all the furniture, etc. I can't remember how many litter boxes they had (I think 50), but they said they cleaned them several times a day. They had built a cattery (a completely fenced in area, including top) outside so the cats could go outside. They also had a room for the pregnant mommas and babies and another room for the sick ones. They swore their house didn't stink, but who knows?

I love cats and own 2, but that's too much, even for me!