Cats locked in room for a month, 4 found dead
Jackson Park, WA (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Aug 23, 2007
County: Kitsap
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Patricia E. Worden
Kitsap County Prosecutors charged a Jackson Park woman Tuesday [March 11, 2008] with animal cruelty in the deaths of four cats, according to documents filed in Kitsap County Superior Court.
Patricia E. Worden, 22, will be called to Kitsap County Superior Court on one count of first-degree animal cruelty, a felony, stemming from a Kitsap Animal Control investigation last August.
The four animals were found in the laundry room, where animal control officers believe they'd been confined for about a month. Navy officials had earlier entered the home because a neighbor had reported "a terrible odor" in Worden's apartment.
An animal control officer went to the house, on the 60 block of Myers Road, the afternoon of Aug. 23. Officers found two small dead cats that looked to have been "partially eaten" by the other cats. They found two larger deceased cats inside a cabinet near a washer and dryer.
Officers were told Worden's husband was out to sea and that she'd been in Spokane for the past four weeks.
Elsewhere in the home, there was "feces and cat hair in virtually every room," officers said. Trash bags full of garbage were "numerous" in the dining room and "it appeared that weeks' worth of garbage was thrown under beds and in the open closets."
Animal control officers spoke with Worden on Aug. 27. She told them she'd left "enough" food for a week but had been gone 21 days because she "didn't have enough money to get back" until her next payday.
She said she'd called a friend to feed the cats, but she declined to give the friend's name, saying, "I don't want to get them into trouble. It's my responsibility," officers said. References« WA State Animal Cruelty Map
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