Hoarding 80 cats - 15 found dead
Columbia County, FL (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Apr 23, 2003
County: Columbia
Disposition: Alleged
Abuser names unreleased
Authorities have collected more than 80 cats, some dead, from a Columbia County residence in Picadilly Park in what they said was a thriving cat colony.
Authorities took 63 cats that were alive, 15 dead cats and a dog from the home at County Road 242 and Randall Street. Thursday afternoon, authorities returned and got five additional cats.
The cat colony belonged to the homeowner, whose name has not been released, because the animal shelter, county code enforcement department and the sheriff's office have not yet made their records available.
Billy DuCoeur, a Columbia County code enforcement officer, said authorities initially went to the house because of complaints from neighbors.
"We received a complaint about junk and trash debris on the front porch and around the house," he said. "We attempted to knock on the windows and doors and we could see the cats in the house and at least one dead cat. We were looking for the investigation to last 30 minutes, but now we have procedures and ordinances we have to go through. Now, it's an ongoing investigation."
County ordinances allow the officers to investigate hazardous homes and buildings, as well as enter and inspect all buildings if there's a possible code violation.
He said 63 cats were taken to the Lake City Animal Shelter as a result of the initial inspection Wednesday. "There were a couple of kittens, various-aged kittens, but mostly adult cats"
Most of the dead cats appeared to be adults, but DuCoeur didn't have any idea how long the cats had been dead - but they appeared to have died at different times and been dead for a while.
Margaret Smith, Lake City-Columbia County Humane Society Animal Shelter director, said authorities are scheduled to go out today and collect more cats.
She said several of them took off when authorities arrived.
DuCoeur said authorities were at the scene for close to four hours as they conducted their investigation. Three county employees, along with someone from environmental health, three sheriff's deputies and two people from animal control were at the scene.
"There was an odor in the house," said DuCoeur, who entered the home and found the cats. He had to wear a breathing apparatus from a local volunteer fire department because the odor was so strong. The breathing apparatus allowed him to enter the house, conduct his investigation and take photos.
Smith, on the other hand, said this wasn't the first time the animal shelter has dealt with such a case.
"It' pretty common for animal shelters to deal with this. We call it a cat colony," Smith said. "I think she's been a cat lover and started off with one or two and it escalated to where she couldn't keep them under control. We call it Animal Collective Syndrome. I think the people really can't help themselves. I believe she was an animal lover because she knew all their names and how old they were. For all the cats we picked up, we got a name on it."
The cats that were collected and the dog were put to sleep, with the exception of the homeowner's daughter's cats - which are being housed at the animal shelter.
"A lot of the cats had upper respiratory problems, which are highly contagious and when you get a group of cats like that, there's usually problems because there are so many," Smith said. "I believe the lady was trying to do the best she could for them, it's just when you get that many, they kind of pass these problems on."
DeCoeur said the case is still under investigation and the Lake City Animal Shelter and the Columbia County Sheriff's Office can file charges against the homeowners.
Smith said she didn't think charges were likely from her department. "I'm sure there are charges being filed, but we're doing our own thing," References« FL State Animal Cruelty Map
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