Hoarding - 70 cats seized Los Angeles, CA (US) Incident Date: Thursday, Oct 11, 2007 County: Los Angeles Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Charges: Felony CTA Alleged: Ron Mason

Case ID: 12417 Classification: Hoarding Animal: cat View more cases in CA (US) Login to Watch this Case

Los Angeles police Officer Jenny Potts crawled under a house Thursday through the refuse of 70 sick cats.

During a pre-dawn raid, her Animal Cruelty Task Force had arrested an ex-Marine cat collector suspected of felony animal neglect.

Now came the filthy task of catching dozens of potentially diseased felines. Cats under the house. Kittens cowering in mounds of debris. Felines skittering through the yard.

"Here's one. Here's two right here. One's going over the fence," said Potts, one of a dozen task-force cops and animal control officers in hot pursuit. "Heeere kitty."

For several years, neighbors had complained of fetid odors wafting from the small stucco house in the 18700 block of Napa Street.

The Department of Animal Services had worked with the homeowner to winnow his number of cats, to no avail.

This week, several cats from his fenced-in yard tested positive for panieukopenia - feline distemper - a contagious cat virus that could spread through the entire neighborhood.

Armed with a search warrant, the task force arrested Ron Mason before 6 a.m. Thursday as he walked out to feed the cats.

If convicted of felony animal neglect, he could serve up to three years in state prison. As part of his probation, he could be banned from owning pets.

Mason, an affable tile setter with a silver goatee and mohawk, expressed indignation and relief.

After his two Doberman pinschers died, he said he started feeding a neighborhood cat. Before long, it had multiplied to 70 - and a fortune in veterinary bills.

They'd destroyed his antique Model A Ford, he said, and filled his cluttered yard with kittens.

"Ron, you can't save the world," Mason, 59, who has lived at his home since 1977, said his vet told him. "This is what happens when you rescue one kitten and they start breeding and no one else takes any responsibility. They come to my house and I'm taken away to jail."

Animal hoarders who it once took years to either help or prosecute are now being addressed by the task force as health threats to themselves and neighbors.

This year, the task force treated four animal hoarders, including a woman in her 80s overwhelmed by 100 pet rats, a Canoga Park woman with 60 cats and a Reseda woman with more than 104 exotic animals and one very large goose.

"This, unfortunately, is extremely common, good intentions gone awry," said Animal Services Lt. Troy Boswell. "Cats, they just can't stop feeding them. It just balloons overnight.

"It just gets out of control."

Armed with gloves, nooses and nets, police and animal control officers scrambled in and outside the house to rescue Mason's cats.

Before the day was done, officers reported rounding up 50 cats for medical care and quarantine at the East and West Valley animal shelters, where they will be released for future foster care adoption.

Police Detective Linda Ortega helped free an angry orange tabby caught in some debris.

"Poor thing: It's just a real sick-sounding kitty. If you don't laugh, you're gonna cry."

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LA Daily News - Oct 13, 2007

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