Hoarding - 35 kittens found dead
California Hot Springs, CA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009
County: Tulare
Disposition: Not Charged
Person of Interest: Coral Kerr
Thirty-five kittens were found dead Tuesday inside a home in southeast Tulare County, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department reported.
Found alive in "various stages of health": 20 cats, 12 dogs and one sheep. The surviving animals were removed from the property in California Hot Springs, about 66 miles southeast of Visalia, and taken to Tulare County Animal Control, deputies reported.
Several required immediate veterinary care, officials said.
Coral Kerr, 62, lives at the property. She could be charged with animal cruelty, Lt. Keith Douglass said.
"All our findings will be forwarded to the District Attorney's Office for review," he said.
Tulare County animal-control officials first approached the residence June 10, deputies reported, after receiving a complaint about the number and condition of animals there. Agents "gave notice" that the animals' living conditions had to improve, Douglass said, but it wasn't until Tuesday that a team of investigators, accompanied by a deputy, returned.
The investigators representing animal control and the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency ' discovered the dead kittens, Douglass said.
"We're trying to determine why there was a delay [in discovering the kittens]," Douglass said.
Investigators also want to know whether Kerr was home at the time of the June 10 visit, he said.
The Sheriff's Department did not disclose whether Kerr has a criminal history or whether similar complaints have been lodged against her in the past. Kerr could not be reached for comment.
Douglass said the case has yet to receive the full attention of animal control officials because the main investigator has been "tied up with other duties," Douglass said. Tim Brown, head of animal control, "said his guy can't get to it right now," Douglass said.
Brown also was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Allison Lambert, spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Agency, said in a written statement that the Sheriff's Department was the lead investigative agency in the case. Animal control is "cooperating and in full support of the ongoing investigation," the statement read. References |
