Hoarding, animals left behind when owner moved
Sodus, NY (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, May 11, 2004
County: Wayne
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 2 files available
Alleged: Marisol Medina
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Wayne County authorities removed more than 40 cats and two from a small house in Sodus full of urine, feces, rats, and cockroaches.
Authorities report that this the worst case of animal abuse they have ever seen. All but one of the animals had to be euthanized as officials at the Humane Society said they were all too sick. The cats had severe heart and respiratory problems and the two dogs had the worst case of heartworm the animal cruelty unit had ever seen.
Wayne County Cruelty Investigator Mark Plyter said the situation has stunned him.
The surviving cat, Lucy, has ear mites and is emaciated, but not nearly as sick as the others--many of whom were inbred and didn't even have teeth.
The woman who lived here, Marisol Medina, left for Florida last week. She left bags of food for the animals and the water running in the bathtub. Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy said she faces misdemeanor charges of animal abandonment. Healy said they believe she didn't intentionally harm the animals.
"I'd call her a collector," Healy said. "She collected too many animals. She couldn't financially care for them. I don't think that she has the mental capacity to care for them and as a result I don't think there was anything intentional on her part."
There is a warrant out for Medina's arrest if she comes back to New York. Healy said Medina's husband, who also used to live at the house, has been in jail on unrelated charges for most of the past year and is not being charged in the case.
Healy also said that police were called to the property two years ago when they seized dogs they say were being bred to fight.
Case Updates| A woman has been arrested for animal cruelty charges in Palmyra dating back two years. Wayne County Sheriff's Deputies said Marisol Medina, 44, was arrested on a warrant from 2004. The warrant alleged that she locked between 30 and 40 cats in her house and left two dogs chained outside her house when she moved to Florida. All the animals had to be euthanized because they were severely ill. | Source: WHAM News - April 19, 2006
Update posted on Apr 29, 2006 - 2:36PM |
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