Hoarding - 25 cats alive, 1 found dead
Glen Ridge, NJ (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Apr 19, 2003
County: Essex
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Suzanne S. Cooper
A woman was charged with animal abuse and needlessly killing a cat after animal welfare agents removed 25 cats from a feces-filled room at her house where agents also found a decomposed cat. Two iguanas were found in a dirty tank, while agents discovered a turtle by sifting through murky water in a second tank, according to the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
There was almost no water or food for the animals, and the smell of cat urine filled the area, the group said. The NJSPCA charged Suzanne S. Cooper with about 30 counts of animal cruelty, which are disorderly persons charges.
"We were led to the scene by someone who apparently was asked to drop by and feed the animals," NJSPCA Deputy Chief Terry Clark said. Agents reached Cooper at a family vacation in Cape May.
Cooper, 48, of Glen Ridge, said Tuesday that she will contest the charges. The dead cat was not in the large cage that holds all the other cats, so it must have entered through a pet door without anyone noticing, she said.
Cooper said she and her family live a block away and had arranged to have an acquaintance feed and care for the cats starting Thursday. They left for vacation Friday, but the caretaker apparently did not come to the house until Saturday, Cooper said.
Cooper said she takes in feral cats, has them fixed and vaccinated, socializes them, and then places them for adoption.
"I do not collect cats," she said. References« NJ State Animal Cruelty Map
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