Case Details

Hoarding - 193 live cats, 65 found dead
Ottawa, WI (US)

Date: May 23, 2005
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 2 files available

Alleged: Margaret Sue Jamel

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

Case ID: 4639
Classification: Hoarding
Animal: cat
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A woman charged with hoarding more than 250 cats in squalor in a home in Ottawa was ordered Monday (May 23, 2005) to undergo a mental competency examination.

The examination for Margaret Sue Jamel, 48, was ordered during her initial court appearance on charges that say 193 live and 65 dead cats were taken from the home by Humane Animal Welfare Society personnel and the Dousman Fire Department. The workers donned boots, rubber gloves and respirators as they went room by room through the fetid home, where several areas had wall-to-wall cat urine and feces.

A criminal complaint says the dead animals included both kittens and adult cats, some of which had been partially devoured by other cats.

"Horrible" is how animal caretaker Stacy Krafczyk described the 1,200-square-foot home from which she rescued cats on Friday night.

"You walk out of the house smelling like the house," she said.

The request for the competency examination came from Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Mark Powers, and defense lawyer Theodore Mazza, who appeared with Jamel, did not object to it.

A hearing on the results of the examination is scheduled for June 23.

Jamel was ordered released on a signature bond requiring her to possess no animals without supervision by animal welfare officers. She also was ordered to submit to an inspection that would enable authorities to verify that she was following that requirement.

Powers told Court Commissioner Martin Binn that Jamel was in the process of surrendering control of the seized surviving animals so they can be put up for adoption.

An affidavit for a search warrant authorizing the seizure of the cats on May 20 says that Jamel has been renting the Ottawa home. The criminal complaint says she has been living there the past four months. The affidavit says that Jamel, who was not home at the time of the seizure, had not been seen by her neighbor since May 14, and that Jamel subsequently told investigators that she had been "out of town."

According to the affidavit and the complaint:

Authorities were summoned to the home by We Energies personnel who had been sent to the house to disconnect its power supply. The utility crew became alarmed after seeing numerous cats through the windows and smelling a powerful stench.

Just one window was open, and more than a dozen cats were pressed up against its screen.

When humane officers entered the home, they found a bowl of water but no food for the dozens of cats that roamed freely throughout the house, including the basement. The stench was so overpowering that even respirators were unable to prevent officers' eyes from burning and watering as they worked amid piles of cat feces and floors soaked with urine.

Some of the cats appeared to be suffering from respiratory ailments, and at least one was either unable or unwilling to move.

Eventually, a Fire Department hazardous materials crew was summoned to remove the dead cats, some of which were in an unplugged freezer.

After appearing with Jamel in intake court Monday afternoon, Mazza said he was not at liberty to discuss the case.

According to other court records, Jamel was evicted from a Wauwatosa apartment on Jan. 4. She had 25 cats, which exceeded the allowed limit of three, officials said.

Len Selkurt, executive director of the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission, said authorities seized Jamel's cats, but they were returned to her when she moved to Waukesha County.

Darcy Gustavsson, HAWS marketing director, said it is costing HAWS $2,000 a day to care for the cats. The humane society's contract with Ottawa is about $500 a year, she said, and HAWS is asking for monetary donations for supplies.

The cats had initial examinations and will be quarantined until HAWS is sure of their health status, Gustavsson said. The majority of the cats are friendly. Some have non-life threatening skin conditions, parasites or respiratory diseases, which may be curable with medication.

Many would be adoptable, but more tests are needed, she said.

HAWS has determined that 30 cats are pregnant and only 12 males are neutered, Gustavsson said.

Case Updates

Margaret S. Jamel entered no contest pleas to five charges alleging she provided inadequate food, water, shelter and sanitation for the cats.
She was found guilty and is to be sentenced in March 2006.
Humane Society and Dousman Fire Department personnel took 193 live cats and 65 dead cats from the home.
Source: JS Online - December 22, 2005
Update posted on Dec 23, 2005 - 11:48PM 
Margaret Sue Jamel will stand trial Oct. 18. Jamel, 48, pleaded not guilty in June to five misdemeanor counts of failing to provide proper food and shelter for an animal.

Jamel was charged in May in a criminal complaint that said 193 live and 65 dead cats were taken from her home by the Humane Animal Welfare Society and the Dousman Fire Department.

Last month, a competency evaluation concluded Jamel is mentally fit to take part in court proceedings
Source: Journal Sentinel - July 28, 2005
Update posted on Aug 7, 2005 - 10:21AM 
About 100 cats rescued from alleged neglect and filthy conditions in a town of Ottawa home go up for adoption Saturday. The Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County, 701 Northview Road, Waukesha, will start an "adopt-a-thon" event at 11 a.m. Saturday, according to a statement from the organization. The group of about 100 cats comes from a rescue operation HAWS said took 195 cats from the rented Highway ZC home of Margaret S. Jamel on May 20.

Jamel faces five misdemeanor animal neglect charges for allegedly taking in 257 cats, 64 of which died in the home, and letting the animals� feces and waste accumulate throughout the home. HAWS helped rescue the animals and has kept them quarantined at the humane society since the alleged incident, the statement said.

Adoption requires an application. The fees range from $105 for kittens to $37 for cats, but HAWS will let people adopt two cats for the price of one just for this event, the organization said. Also, adopters will be eligible for a full refund of the fees when they submit an invoice for a well-check visit from a veterinarian, HAWS said.

For more information, call 542-8851 or log on to www.hawspets.org
Source: GM Today - June 24, 2005
Update posted on Jun 24, 2005 - 6:35PM 

References

WISN - May 24, 2005
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - May 23, 2005
Greater Milwaukee Today - May 23, 2005

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