 Hoarding - 3 cats seized, 27 found dead
Massillon, OH (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jul 1, 2005
County: Stark
Local Map: available
Disposition: Not Charged
Person of Interest: Betty Minch
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At least 27 dead cats have been found in the house at 110 Edwin Ave. S.E., which was ordered vacated by the Massillon Health Department until it is fit to occupy again.
But Vicki Davis, Massillon's animal control officer, said it may be difficult to charge the home owner with animal cruelty.
Health Commissioner Terry Argent ordered Betty Minch to vacate the home July 1 after complaints were received about the odor coming from the house.
The smell of cat waste was detectable from the sidewalk in front of the home. Dorothy Goodwin said the wind would blow the foul odor to her house across the street. Neighbors said they believed Minch might have had 25 cats at one time. But only three were captured July 1, said Ron Sheaks with the Stark County Humane Society.
Police that day said they saw eight or nine cats in the home and three dead kittens. But Davis said animal cruelty has to be proven in court and there isn�t enough proof of that.
Davis said the dead animals aren�t enough evidence in a court a law, but that intentionally neglect has to be proved. Numerous empty cans and bags of cat food were among the many items of trash, which were piled 4 to 5 feet high in many rooms.
In that environment, Davis explained, all it would take is one cat to come down with a respiratory disease and it would quickly spread to the others.
Davis said cruelty can also be proven with a veterinarian�s report or an autopsy of the dead cats.
�They�re (the cat bodies) so far gone that�s probably not possible,� Davis said. �These are skeletal remains.�
Chief Prosecutor John Simpson said his office still is �looking at it.� No final decision has been made yet.
Davis noted mental health workers have identified a �collector syndrome� in which people who are afflicted collect �cats, trash and everything.�
She said she doesn�t know if that�s the case here.
Meanwhile, progress is being made cleaning the house, Argent said.
Every room had piles of trash. Upstairs, a bedroom was piled 4 to 5 feet high. Downstairs rooms had trash up to the window sills.
No charges from the Health Department will be filed, Argent said.
�As long as she�s cooperating we won�t pursue that,� she explained.
Rinehart�s Cleaning Company has been hired to clean out the home and have already filled two dumpsters.
Argent said she believes the cost of the cleanup is around $4,000.
"We're watching it very closely," she said. "The neighbors should be happy � most of the smell is gone. You have to be close to the house to smell it now." Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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