 Hoarding cats - 10 dead, dozens more alive
Lilburn, GA (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Sep 5, 2002
County: Gwinnett
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Donna Jester Sims
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A Gwinnett County woman faces misdemeanor animal cruelty charges after police found 10 dead cats and dozens of live felines at her vacant Lilburn home.
Gwinnett County Magistrate Wendell Peevy said a warrant was issued for Donna Jester Sims, 54, of Pinecrest Circle, at the request of animal control officers.
Gwinnett police Cpl. Ray Dunlap said officers, responding to neighbors complaints of a "horrible smell," found "a large mumber of cats who had the run of the house, and many others outside and in the neighborhood."
Officers reached Sims by telephone at a daughter's home in Norcross and were told she was critically ill with cancer, Dunlap said.
"Neighbors said they hadn't seen her in a while, and knew she was ill and thought the woman might be in the house dead," Dunlap said. Officers found the residence "covered in several inches of cat feces throughout the house. The back door was open and cats had crawled through a screen door and were roaming the neighborhood."
Dunlap could not estimate how many cats had been taken to the county animal shelter Friday night. "Animal control set traps for several that were roaming the neighborhood," he said.
The arrest warrant set a $1,000 bond; the maximum penalty for a midemeanor charge is a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, Peevy said. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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