A Cheektowaga woman, 25-year-old Donna Seifert, is facing animal cruelty charges after authorities make a disturbing discovery inside her apartment.
Early Sept 28, Cheektowaga Police called the Erie County S.P.C.A. to investigate a claim of animal neglect at an apartment on Claudette Court.
When they entered, they found the apartment strewn with cat waste, and five deceased cats in various levels of decomposition. Authorities say they found one cat barely alive that had appeared to be feeding off of the dead animals.
The surviving cat is being cared for by the S.P.C.A., which is trying to figure out if animals were abused before they died.
Seifert was issued an appearance ticket to face misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.
Case UpdatesA woman who abandoned ten cats� nine of which died from starvation� in her Claudette Court home last fall was sentenced last week to community service, counseling, a fine, and three years probation during which she cannot keep pets.
Town Justice Thomas S. Kolbert charged Donna M. Seifert with a $1,000 fine� the maximum permitted by law� and sentenced her to 200 hours of community service at the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care.
In addition, Seifert is required to seek local counseling through Horizon Health Services and from Jane N. Nathanson, an acclaimed animal hoarding counselor from the Boston area.
Kolbert also granted the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) the right to limitless, unannounced visits of Seifert�s home. Seifert must also notify probation authorities and the SPCA any time that she moves. The sentence was announced April 12.
Seifert was charged September 28 with cruelty to animals by an SPCA special agent after he found an emaciated cat living in the apartment, and the remains of nine other felines.
The barely alive cat and the animal remains were discovered after a neighbor alerted Cheektowaga Police to "horrific odors" coming from the apartment.
Special Agent Charles Braun, who retrieved the cat, said that each room of the apartment was filled with animal feces and remains. He described the apartment as "one giant litter box."
Seifert, who voluntarily surrendered 18 cats to the SPCA during a separate May 2003 incident when she lived in Buffalo, has been described as an animal "hoarder."
SPCA spokesperson Gina Browning said that her agency is continuing to learn new information about animal hoarding habits.
Braun said that he felt the sentence was fair in this instance, noting recent conclusions about hoarding.
"The most advanced research concerning animal hoarding state temporary probation and counseling is the most effective way to deal with animal hoarding situations," said Braun, "as opposed to simply fining the defendant and disallowing ownership of animals permanently."
Braun added that research of animal hoarding indicates that persons who are fined and disallowed animal ownership are most likely to become repeat offenders.
Browning said that cases of animal hoarding are often secretive because the hoarder may not have a large family or many visitors. Many times an animal hoarder is discovered by neighbors, the health department or emergency services.
"At times it�s impossible to know when this is going on inside a home," Browning added. "In the summer, more of the cases are revealed to us because of the weather and the smell seems to carry further."
As a result, the SPCA generally relies on the community to alert its agents to animal hoarding situations.
Browning also noted that animals are not always the only victims in hoarding cases. Children and senior citizens may also be placed in danger.
"People sometimes forget that it�s not just animals being helped," Browning said. "Sometimes children need the help of child protection services and senior citizens may need the help of social services. It�s a rare situation when it�s just an animal and the SPCA is the only agency involved."
The emaciated cat found in Seifert�s apartment is in an SPCA foster home and adoption is pending. SPCA officials named the cat "Casey."
Seifert is now living with her mother in Buffalo�s Seneca neighborhood. | Source: Cheektowaga Times - April 22, 2005
Update posted on Apr 23, 2005 - 10:24AM |
Donna M. Seifert pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty after authorities found carcasses of nine cats in her Claudette Court apartment last fall was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum fine allowable by law as well as community service and counseling.
Seifert was sentenced by Cheektowaga Justice Thomas S. Kolbert to three years probation and 200 hours community service at Hospice and was fined $1,000.
She also was ordered to undergo specialized animal hoarding counseling via telephone with a specialist from Boston, Mass., according to Gina Browning, SPCA spokeswoman.
In late September, SPCA officials, responding to neighbors' complaints, found one cat alive in unsanitary conditions and nine cat carcasses. | Source: The Buffalo News - April 13, 2005
Update posted on Apr 13, 2005 - 8:33PM |
| Siefert now faces a psychiatric evaluation. The judge in the case against Siefert ordered the test Wednesday. | Source: WGRZ - Oct 7, 204
Update posted on Oct 7, 2004 - 7:26AM |
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