30 cats seized from filthy home - Spokane, WA

Wednesday, Sep 15, 2010

County: Spokane

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Julianna O. Bauer

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Thirty cats were removed today from a Spokane Valley home where conditions are so bad officers wore protective suits and respirators.

Spokane County Regional Animal Protective Service employees are to watch the home at 4616 N. Larch Road overnight and continue searching for more felines Thursday, said director Nancy Hill.

The agency obtained a search warrant after an employee, acting on a tip, stopped by the home Tuesday and looked in the window. Hill described the home as "horrific."

"You can't even hardly walk in there because of all the garbage and feces," she said. "The air is just permeated with the smell of the cat urine and feces. It's grim."

The cats, described by Hill as thin but not obviously diseased, were taken to SCRAPS.

No one has been seen at the home, and Hill said neighbors don't believe the owners live there full time.

"Honestly, I don't know how any one could be living here," Hill said.

Twenty-two cats were removed by hand; animal protection officers used boxes baited with food to capture eight more, Hill said.

"I'm hoping there's no more than 10 left, but ti's just so hard to say," she said.

The home is owned by Danny R. and Julianna O. Bauer, according to Spokane County property records.

Case Updates

A Spokane Valley homeowner whose 31 cats were seized last week has been charged with animal cruelty. Officials say Julianna O. Bauer cooperated with Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service and relinquished the felines, which were seized Sept. 15 after animal protection officers said they found the cats in horrible conditions. Officers wore protective suits and respirators while searching Bauer's home at 4616 N. Larch Road for the cats. "Ms. Bauer was willing to do the right thing and relinquish her cats to SCRAPS, but given the serious situation, the charges were warranted," said Nancy Hill, SCRAPS director. Bauer faces two counts of second-degree animal cruelty and one count of confinement in an unsafe manner. Bauer's cats, who had no major long-term health problems, are available for adoption, along with hundreds of other cats. Forty-five cats were adopted last week at discount prices, but 118 were brought in, prompting SCRAPS to continue the special this week. Today through Saturday, adoption fees are $25 for one cat and $40 for two cats, which includes spaying or neutering, vaccines, microchips and licenses. "We hope that our community will step up and start placing a higher value on cats as pets," said Jackie Bell, SCRAPS development director. Local shelters took in more than 11,650 cats last year - an increase of nearly 500 in 2008, Bell said. "We need to turn that trend around."

Source: spokesman.com - Sep 21, 2010 Update posted on Jan 9, 2011 - 2:03PM

References

• « WA State Animal Cruelty Map
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