Hoarding 82 cats
Aliso Viejo, CA (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 1, 2006
County: Orange

Disposition: Not Charged

Persons of Interest:
» Lester J. McCormick
» Nancy McCormick

Animal control officers seized 82 cats from a couple's home after neighbors complained about the odor they were causing.

Monday's seizure represented the largest number of cats removed from a residence in several years, according to officials with Orange County Animal Control Services.

"We had complaints that the odor could be smelled three houses away," said city building official Gary Hawken.

Lester McCormick, 51, said he and his wife Nancy, 51, took cats into their home when nobody else wanted them, but had no idea that they had accumulated so many.

"I thought we had about 30," he said.

The McCormicks kept three cats, the ones they have had the longest, Hawken said. He said the couple will have to pay about $70 per removed cat.

References

• Boston.Com - Aug 1, 2006

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