var _sf_startpt=(new Date()).getTime() Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Hoarding 160 cats, 60 found dead - Westbrook, CT (US)
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Case ID: 8512
Classification: Hoarding
Animal: cat, dog (non pit-bull)
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Hoarding 160 cats, 60 found dead
Westbrook, CT (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, May 11, 2006
County: Middlesex

Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Arlene Lavigne

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

Animal control officers and state police removed more than 60 dead cats from a woman's home and rescued nearly 60 others and a dog while responding to an anonymous complaint. State police said 58 of the dead cats were found wrapped in paper towels in a freezer. Several other carcasses were found throughout the house. State police said they had an arrest warrant charging the woman with animal cruelty. A neighbor said the woman was out of the country on vacation.

Someone called police Wednesday night to report a dead cat in the driveway of the house off Boston Post Road. Authorities who responded immediately noticed a foul smell on the property and later got a search warrant for the home, state police said. Of the cats found alive, sick ones were taken to veterinarians and others were seized by animal control officers.

The name of the woman who lives at the house was not released.

State police said it was unclear why cats were placed in the freezer. Authorities said it appeared the surviving cats were being fed and given water, but conditions were deplorable because of feces and urine.


Case Updates

Animal control officer Tanya Marocco said this week that the outcome of the "cat lady" case is "a mixed victory."

"The judge ordered her (Arlene Lavigne) to reimburse the town $2,500 every six months for the next two years - $10,000 - but we're still several thousand dollars short of what this case cost the taxpayers," Marocco said.

"And I'm concerned about the judge allowing her to own up to eight animals."

Lavigne, 66, was arrested on a charge of animal cruelty in May after Marocco discovered more than 150 cats and kittens, dead and alive, in her 447 Boston Post Road home.

Every surface in the house was permeated with cat urine and feces, Marocco reported at the time, and the house had no running water.

Lavigne was granted accelerated rehabilitation by Superior Court Judge Frank A. Iannotti in Middletown last week.

In addition to reimbursing Westbrook, she must make a $1,000 donation to the Connecticut Humane Society and undergo psychological evaluation in an attempt to determine whether she is a "cat hoarder," as Marocco and other cat experts fear, or simply a soft-hearted woman who took in homeless cats and let the situation get out of hand.

Iannotti deemed that eight pets is reasonable for Lavigne to have.

Lavigne, who now is living in Guilford, apparently wants to make arrangements to reclaim a few of the cats that were taken from her Westbrook home.

Marocco said her concern is that she has no way of verifying that Lavigne will keep no more than eight pets.

"The judge said her probation officer will have to determine how to monitor that," Marocco said.

About half of the felines rescued from Lavigne's house have been adopted, but the town still has 10 cats in its custody and the Valley Shore Animal Welfare League is housing 39.

"Some of the cats would be more suitable as 'barn cats' than family pets," Marocco said.

"They're people shy. But most of them will make fine pets. I hope after the holidays, people will think about giving a home to one or two of these cats. They've been here a long time now."
Source: The Middletown Press - Dec 22, 2006
Update posted on Dec 27, 2006 - 3:07PM 
Arlene Lavigne, the Westbrook woman charged with animal cruelty after 96 live cats and 63 dead ones were found in her home in May, received a special form of probation for first-time offenders Thursday and was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation, pay $10,000 in restitution to Westbrook animal control and donate $1,000 to the Connecticut Humane Society.

Judge Frank A. Iannotti also ordered Lavigne, 66, not to own more than eight pets.

"I do believe that this was not done with an ounce of malice on your part. That's the good part. The bad part is you can't do this," Iannotti told Lavigne, whose case - particularly the discovery of 58 dead cats in a freezer - has drawn attention from animal-rights groups across the country.

Much of the hearing in Superior Court in Middletown focused on whether Lavigne's actions were those of an animal lover who simply lost control or those of a mentally ill animal hoarder at risk of relapsing.

Lavigne spoke of her lifelong love for animals, her practice of rescuing cats left behind by summer residents and boaters, and the reign the cats had over her 2,500-square-foot Boston Post Road home, where she left out 25 litter boxes and changed them three times a day.

The cats in the freezer were awaiting burial in Vermont, where she has long placed her dead animals, Lavigne said, describing the wooden coffins her nephew makes for her dogs and the tin boxes she provides for cats.

Lavigne said she knew the situation in her house was getting out of control and had sought help from area animal shelters, but her phone calls were not returned.

"I truly feel that I didn't commit animal cruelty," she said. "These animals were well taken care of."

Lavigne's attorney, Jeremiah Donovan, said the cats received food, water and veterinary care, even if Lavigne's method of birth control - closing males that hadn't been neutered in a room - proved unwise.

When authorities discovered the animals, Lavigne had been on vacation for six days, having left a cat-sitter in charge of the house. Donovan said the conditions under the cat-sitter were worse than they would have been had Lavigne been home. He cited a statement by Lavigne's nephew, Christopher Erardi, that when he came to pick her up at 3 a.m. for a trip to the airport shuttle, she was mopping and that he helped her set out food and water for the cats.

"This is a lady who essentially gave her house to the cats," Donovan said.

But Assistant State's Attorney Barbara Hoffman and Westbrook Animal Control Officer Tanya Marocco offered a different picture, describing the feeding method for the cats as "survival of the fittest" and noting that many were in varying degrees of emaciation and had fleas.

The conditions of the home where the animals were discovered - state police entered in hazmat suits, and Marocco said her feet stuck to the urine- and feces-covered floor - could not have been created in the six days after Lavigne left, Hoffman said.

Many of the cats - 49 remain in the town's custody - do not appear to have ever been held or petted, according to Marocco, who said she believes Lavigne should be considered an animal hoarder.

"We are concerned that without some sort of monitoring or counseling, that she will do this again," Marocco said.

After hearing the arguments, Iannotti offered his own description of Lavigne: an "overzealous animal lover" with good intentions who created an untenable situation that left the pets without any chance of receiving love and affection.

Iannotti ordered Lavigne to undergo psychological evaluation with an emphasis on whether her situation was animal hoarding, but said he did not want to prevent her from owning what he called a reasonable number of pets.
Source: Hartford Courant - Dec 14, 2006
Update posted on Dec 14, 2006 - 1:36PM 
A woman was charged with animal cruelty on Sept 27, four months after more than 60 dead cats were found in her home.

Arlene Lavigne, 66, kept nearly 160 cats in her Boston Post Road home, authorities said. Police and animal control officers rescued about 60 other cats and a dog after responding to an anonymous complaint in May. Lavigne was not home at the time.

State police said 58 of the dead cats were found wrapped in paper towels in a freezer. Several other carcasses were found throughout the house.

Lavigne's attorney, Jeremiah Donovan called Lavigne an animal lover who could not bear to turn away stray cats but could not afford to neuter or spay each animal. He said the dead cats died of natural causes and she had planned to bury them on property she owns in Vermont.

Lavigne agreed to give up custody of 93 of the cats, but was to get back the dog and three cats of her choosing, Donovan said. She also consented to inspections by town officials and agreed to pay for the cost of neutering and spaying.

She is due in Superior Court in Middletown on Oct. 11.
Source: Hartford Courant - Sept 27, 2006
Update posted on Sep 27, 2006 - 9:23PM 

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