Hoarding - 127 cats New Castle, DE (US) Incident Date: Monday, Mar 28, 2005 County: New Castle Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Abuser/Suspect: Barbara K. Vanaskey

Case ID: 4283 Classification: Hoarding Animal: cat View more cases in DE (US) Login to Watch this Case

A New Castle-area woman who kept 127 cats and kittens inside her Coventry home has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges. All of the cats were in poor health.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals executive director John E. Caldwell said a warrant was issued March 28 and served Monday for the arrest of Barbara K. Vanaskey, 53, of the unit block of Caxton Drive.

Vanaskey pleaded guilty at Justice of the Peace Court 11 to five misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and three counts of failure to inoculate the cats for rabies.

Vanaskey was fined $2,146 and court costs and prohibited from owning or caring for any animals for five years.

Caldwell said an anonymous tip led animal control officer John Saville to Vanaskey to investigate a complaint that she had more than 50 cats in her house.

According to court records, Saville made two trips to Vanaskey's home to investigate. On the second visit, March 18, he saw two young kittens in the yard and both were sick.

Saville placed one of the sick cats in his truck and had gone to get the second when Vanaskey confronted him.

When asked how many cats she had, she replied, "A few," police said in court records.

When he entered her home, Saville saw roughly 100 cats on the main level. He called for help removing them.

"All of the cats were sick," he said in court records.

Caldwell said 127 cats and kittens were taken out of the house, and Vanaskey signed all of them over to the SPCA.

She said she did not have the money to provide veterinary care for the pets.

County Land Use spokesman Vincent Kowal said Vanaskey was ordered by the county to clean up the premises. A re-inspection on March 30 determined she had complied, he said.

The cats were taken to the SPCA shelter in Stanton where they were examined by a veterinarian.

Caldwell said the felines were found to be underweight, and suffering from ear mites, fleas, severe upper respiratory infections and other feline maladies.

The cats ranged in age from 2 weeks to 6 years, he said.

Five of the cats are being put up for adoption. Another five are being rehabilitated, and the rest had to be euthanized because of their sicknesses, Caldwell said.

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References

The News Journal - April 6, 2005

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