Hoarding - over 40 cats seized from home
Ellwood City, PA (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Aug 7, 2009
County: Lawrence

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Laura Austin

A woman whose home was condemned last week has been charged with animal cruelty and violation of a borough ordinance limiting the number of animals a person can keep.

Ellwood City police filed charges Wednesday against Laura Austin, 56, of 897 Beechwood Blvd., Ellwood City. Her residence, owned by her sister, Shirley, was condemned and deemed uninhabitable July 30 after police were called to the home.

Laura Austin has been staying at her sister’s Ellport home.

More than 40 cats were removed from Laura Austin’s residence and taken to the Lawrence County Humane Society. Laura and Shirley Austin said they were rescuing the cats and had arranged for several of them to be adopted.

They said the number of cats accumulated because people found out Laura Austin took in cats and dumped felines on her doorstep. She said the cats were well-cared for and that they would have been worse off if they hadn’t been taken in.

Under borough ordinance, Ellwood City residents are allowed to possess no more than six pets at any one time, although a 120-day exemption is permitted for newly born pets.

In addition to the criminal charges against Laura Austin, the Austins also face a Monday deadline for cleaning up the property to avoid fines for code violations, because the house and property had become unsanitary.

Laura Austin will not be able to live in the home until Code.sys, the borough’s code enforcement agent, inspects the building.

Borough Manager Dom Viccari said Friday he had talked to the sisters and that they will have a trash hauler pick up garbage that has been taken out of the house. A professional service is expected to complete the cleanup next week.

Viccari said the Austins might be able to avoid being fined even if the cleanup isn’t completely finished by Monday as long as they are making progress.

References

• Times-Online - Aug 7, 2009

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