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Case ID: 8203

Classification: Hoarding

Animal: cat

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Case #8203 Rating: 3.0

Hoarding - 16 animals found dead
New Milford, CT (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Apr 1, 2005
County: Litchfield

Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 1 files available

Defendants/Suspects:
» Kenneth Ehrhart
» Margaret Ehrhart

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

A New Milford man is facing six counts of cruelty to animals after authorities allegedly found 16 animal carcasses during an eviction.

Kenneth Ehrhart, 60, was scheduled to be arraigned in Bantam Superior Court on April 24 but the case was continued until May 10.

A state marshal who was overseeing the eviction of Ehrhart and his wife Margaret from a home at 7 Cedar Hill Road, New Milford, on April 1 2005, reported to the state Department of Agriculture Animal Control Division that the Ehrharts were apparently living in unsanitary conditions, according to an arrest warrant.

"It was virtually impossible to take a step in the house without stepping in either garbage or cat feces," Edmund J. Rice, state marshal said. The movers from Lovetere�s Movers of Winsted needed four days to remove the Ehrharts� possessions and they were forced to wear masks and clear rooms of clutter and cat feces on the furniture and kitchen counters, according to a statement by Thomas Powell of New Milford.

The Ehrharts� cats were starved and dying, Sue Vanwhy of New Milford told police in July, according to an arrest warrant. She rented a room from them when they moved to 24 Larson Road, New Milford, and told animal control officers that they had seven cats that were not being fed and she saw dead cats in the basement. The cat cages had cat feces up to three feet deep, she said.

Animal control officers obtained Ehrhart�s consent to search the home and found five cats in a basement that was littered with feces. The cats, which were infested with fleas, were seized and a dead cat was also found in the room. Two cats in Ehrhart�s bedroom appeared in good condition and were left in his possession, according to the warrant.

The dead cat was examined by a pathologist at the University of Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and found to be covered with lice and ticks. The pathologist was unable to determine how or when the animal died.

Case Updates

Two former cat show judges are being banned from owning any animals for two years after authorities found cats littered with feces in their home.

Kenneth and Margaret Ehrhart were each charged with six counts of animal cruelty after a state animal control officer found one dead cat and five others infested with fleas last year, the Danbury News-Times is reporting.

Earlier last year, authorities discovered the bodies of 16 dead cats at another home previously occupied by the couple. The cats were found by movers after the Ehrharts had been evicted.

There were cat cages filled with feces three feet deep. The Ehrharts haven't been charged in connection with that case.

Besides the two-year ban on owning animals, the couple must undergo psychiatric evaluation and treatment. They will also be forbidden from judging any cat contests.

The five surviving cats, considered valuable show cats, are at a New Milford animal shelter and are available for adoption.

Source: WTNH - July 4, 2006
Update posted on Jul 5, 2006 - 11:24PM

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Five valuable show cats once owned by a couple accused of cruelty to animals are now up for adoption. Former cat show judges Kenneth Ehrhart, 60, and his wife, Margaret, 63, officially surrendered ownership of the animals, and the cats were taken to the New Milford Animal Welfare Society. �We�re very pleased that the cats will now be able to go to a home and be out of confinement,� society manager Renee Gardner said. Until this week, the cats had been housed at the regional animal control shelter in New Milford, where they were taken last July after a state animal control officer removed them from the Ehrharts� home. �This is great news,� said animal control officer Audrey McKay. �They need a good home.�

When the cats were first seen at the Larson Road house, they were reportedly infested with fleas. According to an arrest affidavit signed by Officer Ray Connors, who works for the state Department of Agriculture Animal Control Division in Hartford, one cat was found dead in the house and removed. The dead cat was examined by a pathologist at the University of Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and found to be covered with lice and ticks. The pathologist was unable to determine how or when the animal died. Connors reported the bodies of 16 other cats were found three months earlier at a Cedar Hill Road home previously occupied by the Ehrharts. The couple has not been charged in connection with those deaths.

The Ehrharts, who each face six charges of cruelty to animals, are scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Bantam on May 31, 2006. Both appeared in court, where Margaret Ehrhart entered a not guilty plea. Earlier this month, the couple�s lawyer, New Milford attorney Harry Cohen, said there was no basis for the complaints. �It was a misunderstanding,� said Cohen. �We will reserve comment until we know the outcome.�

McKay said the official form releasing ownership of the five cats was delivered by Connors and voluntarily signed by the Ehrharts.
Connors had said the cats, while in the Ehrharts� home, had been denied proper care, including wholesome air and water. Connors said the floor of a downstairs room where the cats were kept was littered with feces and their dirty water bowl also contained feces.
McKay said when the cats first arrived at the shelter they were thin, had ear mites and were covered in fleas. �Now they�re fat and happy,� said McKay. �We had them a long time and were getting attached to them, but I�m glad they�re now going to find homes.�

Gardner challenged a request reportedly made by the Ehrharts that the cats be turned over to one of their friends. �That will not happen,� Gardner said. �They will be placed in good homes because everyone wanting them will be screened.� With 75 other cats in the shelter waiting to be adopted, Gardner said the five new ones will undergo the same medical and other checkups before being offered to new owners. "We are a non-destroying facility, so the cats will stay with us until they are placed,� Gardner said. Gardner also expressed concern two other cats may still be at the Ehrharts� home. During his visit to the house, Connors said he left two cats in an air-conditioned bedroom. They were apparently in good health and without fleas. For legal reasons, Connors said last week, he was unable to say why the two cats were not removed.

Under state statutes, the Ehrharts can be fined up to $1,000, jailed for up to a year, or both, on each charge. The Ehrharts have been stripped of their privileges as judges and members of the American Association of Cat Enthusiasts until the case is resolved.

Source: News Times - May 12, 2006
Update posted on May 13, 2006 - 9:50AM

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A New Milford couple who breed and judge show cats will appear in Superior Court next week after being charged with animal cruelty.

Kenneth and Margaret Ehrhart were arrested by New Milford police after a state animal control officer found a half-dozen sick or dead cats in the Larson Road house where they were living last July.

The animals included a number of pricey breeds raised for show purposes, such as Cornish Rex, British Shorthairs and Turkish Angoras, said Audrey McKay, the regional animal control officer for the town.

Several months earlier, movers who were hired to evict the Ehrharts from another house on Cedar Hill Road discovered the carcasses of 16 dead felines, some in advanced stages of decomposition.

The movers found the premises so littered with garbage and cat feces that they had to wear masks while they worked, according to a state marshal involved in the eviction.

�It was virtually impossible to take a step in the house without stepping in either garbage or cat feces, said Marshal Edward Rice. �The smell . . . made breathing almost unbearable.�

Kenneth Ehrhart, 60, and Margaret Ehrhart, 63, are listed as judges on the Web site of the American Association of Cat Enthusiasts. Telephone calls to the Ehrharts on Monday night weren�t returned.

They are each charged with six counts of cruelty to animals by failing to properly care for the cats.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit for Kenneth Ehrhart, state Animal Control Officer Ray Connors went to the Larson Road home of Ehrhart�s father last July 19 after a tenant complained that the animals weren�t being fed regularly and were living in clutter and their own waste.

The Ehrharts had moved into the house uninvited some three months earlier after they were evicted from the Cedar Hill Road residence, tenant Susan VanWhy told Connors.

Connors said he found five flea-infested cats in a downstairs room of the raised ranch, which smelled strongly of cat urine and feces. The floor and the animals� drinking water was littered with waste, and a further search of the room yielded the carcass of a dead cat, he said.

Connors said two other cats, apparently in good health and free of fleas, were found in an upstairs bedroom.

Connors seized the five sickly cats and the dead animal, which was taken to a state veterinary lab for a necropsy. But doctors were unable to determine the cause of death.

The live cats were treated for fleas and ear mites and are currently being sheltered by the local animal welfare society.

Kenneth Ehrhart, who was arrested by New Milford police on April 17, is scheduled to appear in superior court in Bantam on May 10.

His wife, who was taken into custody last week, is due in court May 8.

Source: News-Times - May 1, 2006
Update posted on May 2, 2006 - 4:15PM

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References

NewsTimesLive.com - May 8, 2006
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Hoarding - 16 animals found deadNew Milford, CT (US)

Case Updates

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Hoarding - 16 animals found dead
New Milford, CT (US)