Hoarding 90 cats
Eastport, NY (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Jul 17, 2003
County: Suffolk

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Joan Diedoff

Nearly 90 sickly, suffering cats were put to sleep inside a filthy Eastport, L.I., garage where rescuers found them on the night of Thursday, July 17. The animals, confined in a side garage at 469 Montauk Highway, had feline leukemia, a contagious and fatal disease, as well as fleas and other ailments.

Of the 90 cats found in the garage, three were dead and 20 were pregnant, rescuers in protective suits discovered.

"The smell and conditions were absolutely horrendous," said Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "The floor was covered in feces."

The SPCA euthanized the animals in the putrid garage rather than cause the cats further suffering by moving them.

Gross said the homeowner might have been incapacitated and entrusted the animals to someone else. Because the situation was being investigated, authorities did not release the homeowner's name.

References

• Daily News
• South Shore Press - July 23, 2003

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