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Case #18434 Rating: 4.3 out of 5
Thursday, Aug 3, 2006
County: Luzerne
Charges: Summary
Disposition: Civil penalty imposed
Defendant/Suspect: Aileen Kulpon
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A woman who kept more than 50 cats in her Fourth Street row home has complied with orders to turn the felines over to a shelter, but animal-nuisance and rubbish charges are still pending the satisfactory cleanup of her residence, a judge said Tuesday.
Aileen Kulpon, 43, of 974 W. Fourth St., had been cited with the animal nuisance charges because of a strong urine smell annoying neighbors since December. She was taken temporarily into custody last week after her failure to respond to citations.
At a hearing May 3, District Judge Joseph Zola directed city health officer Mark Thompson to inspect Kulpon's home, which Thompson found to be unfit for habitation because of ammonia odors from cat urine and feces.
Zola ordered Kulpon to remove the cats from her home by 6 p.m. May 4, and he and Thompson called various no-kill shelters to see if they would take the cats because Kulpon didn't want them destroyed.
He also ordered Kulpon to have the residence professionally cleaned to eliminate the ammonia odor and remove rubbish.
Zola said Tuesday that Kulpon turned over 56 cats to the Cats with No Names shelter in Pine Grove, where all the cats were checked by a veterinarian.
Zola said one cat died shortly after arrival, and several others had upper-respiratory ailments caused by the ammonia smell from cat urine, which he said he was told "could burn their lungs out." The cats are being treated with antibiotics, he said.
Kulpon asked that some of the cats be returned to her. A shelter official said that might be possible through a foster-care program in which a shelter official could visit Kulpon's home at any time to check on the cats' well-being, Zola said.
Kulpon testified she was moving to McAdoo in Schuylkill County, and Zola directed her to find out if the borough had any regulations regarding the number of cats allowed in a residence.
Zola said Kulpon must sign outstanding paperwork for the shelter and meet with the owner of a professional cleaning service tomorrow. He said the service is scheduled to begin the house cleaning, estimated at a maximum cost of $2,890, on Sunday.
Zola said he will monitor Kulpon's level of cooperation with the shelter and cleaning service and delay disposition of her case until her next hearing date, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 23.
Case Updates
| Kulpon was charged in a prior case involving animals and was sentenced to probation about five years ago when officials responded to the same home for reports of a foul stench. The home was condemned at that time after 56 cats were found inside living in filthy conditions. |
Source: standardspeaker.com - Nov 18, 2011
Update posted on Nov 18, 2011 - 9:54AM |
References
« PA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Luzerne County, PA