Animal Abuse: Over 50 cats seized - Rotterdam, NY | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database

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Case ID: 18679

Classification: Hoarding

Animal: cat

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Over 50 cats seized
Rotterdam, NY (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011
County: Schenectady

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Michelle Regel

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

SPCA officials are at a home in Schenectady County for a second time on Thursday removing another 35 animals that were found living in deplorable conditions.

This is in addition to 50 cats and dogs that were previously removed from the home.

Police and SPCA officials arrived just before 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night to investigate the home at 1751 Suffolk Avenue in Rotterdam for the report of possible animal cruelty.

When they arrived, they found 34 cats and one dog living in the home. They say the condition of the home was one of the worst they have ever seen, with feces and urine covering the floors.

"These conditions are absolutely deplorable. What really stands out here is the odor. You could smell this stench from across the street. We had to apply Vicks menthol vapor rub under our noses to be able to even get through the door" said Schenectady County SPCA Department Chief Mathew Tully.

Many of the cats were flea infested. The dog is being treated, and one of the cats was in serious condition, currently being treated at a veterinarian hospital.

SPCA officers charged the homeowner, 39-year-old Michelle Regel with one count of animal abuse, a misdemeanor.

Regel admits she had a problem, saying she "is an animal lover," and whenever she found a stray cat she felt compelled to take it in. She says she is glad the cats will now have good homes.

Anyone who is able and willing to foster an animal is asked to call the

Case Updates

An animal protection organization has reached a tentative settlement in its lawsuit against the sheriff's department for allegedly failing to take custody of dozens of flea-ridden cats seized from a condemned Rotterdam home last week.

But the last 11 of the 44 cats rescued from Michelle Regels' home at 1751 Suffolk Ave. that remained alive and fit for adoption Tuesday will likely be euthanized by the weekend -- Both the Schenectady SPCA and county officials said they exhausted all avenues to find them homes.

Nine of the cats were euthanized over this past weekend at the recommendation of veterinarians; 24 others were taken in by the Animal Protective Foundation and volunteers, said Schenectady County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Chief Matthew Tully, a local attorney.

A large, dark-brown dog that appeared to be a chow with chunks of fur missing was also seized from Regels' home and euthanized because of poor health.

The dog and every cat in the home had fleas.

Tully said details of the agreement, which was reached during a conference call an hour before a scheduled hearing in Supreme Court in Schenectady County, won't be made public until the county attorney briefs county lawmakers on the deal later this week. Tully did say, however, that the settlement is a long-term solution that will allocate funding and divide responsibilities to both the Schenectady SPCA and the county to help them deal with future animal cruelty cases.

"Is it a perfect deal? No, but it seems to be the best possible solution," Tully said.

The lawsuit, filed in county court by SPCA lawyer Andrew McNamara, said the sheriff's department was required under state agriculture and markets law to provide shelter for animals seized by the entirely volunteer animal cruelty prevention unit.

Tully said Dagostino, who could not be reached for comment, was cooperative in working out a settlement.

It cost the Schenectady SPCA $4,000 to seize the animals, said Tully, adding that he paid out of pocket for euthanizing the dog and cats deemed unfit for adoption.

The 11 cats that were still not adopted at the time of Tuesday's hearing were to be euthanized Tuesday afternoon, but volunteers came forward to take in the felines until the end of the week. It buys officials more time to find the cats a home.

But Tully said all shelters within a four-hour drive of Schenectady are full, many having filled with pets stranded or abandoned during Tropical Storm Irene.

Tully said the cats seized last week are better off euthanized than left living in squalor at Regels' rancid one-story home.

Regels' house on the corner of Suffolk Avenue and Dover Drive was filled with feces and urine and deemed uninhabitable by the county. It will be gutted in the hopes that it can eventually be salvaged.

Regels, 39, was living out of the garage adjacent to the home when the Schenectady SCPA seized the animals last Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

The litter box-like stench from the home was so pungent that SPCA officials had to smear Vicks VapoRub under their noses before entering, a tactic typically reserved for police detectives hovering over a decomposing human body.

When contacted by the Times Union Tuesday, Regels said she was "feeling sick, absolutely awful" that some of the cats were euthanized and that others face a similar fate.

Regels, who's temporarily living with a friend, said she slowly became overwhelmed with abandoned cats after she signed up with a local humane group to take in strays.

"It just kept escalating," Regels said. "Even when I told people I couldn't take in anymore, I'd come home and someone would have dropped one off for me."

Regels said she didn't know where to turn when no shelters would take the animals in. "I do feel very happy, though, that they were able to find homes for many of these cats," Regels said. "I loved those animals, but I was in over my head. I don't want something like this to happen to anyone else."

Tully said that because Regels was appreciative for the SPCA's intervention, a rarity in animal hoarding cases, she was not charged as harshly as she could have been.

Regels was charged Thursday with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. She was issued an appearance ticket and is scheduled to appear in Rotterdam Town Court on Oct. 17.

The crime carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail, a fine of $1,000, or three years probation.

For more information about the Schenectady County SPCA, to donate or to adopt one of the cats, go to Source: timesunion.com - Oct 11, 2011
Update posted on Oct 11, 2011 - 10:55PM

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Over 50 cats seizedRotterdam, NY (US)

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Over 50 cats seized
Rotterdam, NY (US)