Hoarding, 34 cats found in condemned home Craig, CO (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 County: Moffat Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Janice E. Letsinger

Case ID: 9240 Classification: Hoarding, Neglect / Abandonment Animal: cat, dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in CO (US) Login to Watch this Case

Flies buzz around a dumpster partially filled with trash and debris. A stench comes through the front door. A pile of wood stretches several feet across the front lawn, dirty trash cans are scattered near the street and a squirrel carcass lies rotting near the mailbox.

Catch a glimpse of 404 Stout St. while you can, because it won't be standing much longer.

Municipal officials responded to the dilapidated home earlier this month and found what a longtime building inspector described as an environment that is uninhabitable and unsanitary. Police officers responded to the house after a resident reported it as substandard housing.

"When I pulled up, you could smell the stench," said Dave Costa, a Craig building inspector since 1994.

The inside of the home was just as disturbing, he said.

Piles of trash littered the floor. Animal food cans and other debris were stacked high along the floors and walls, making it difficult to find a clear pathway to walk through the home. Dog and cat feces was everywhere.

That's not all, he said.

Dirt and debris, which Costa estimated was a quarter-inch thick, was found on the toilet seat. The kitchen sink was full of garbage and dirty pots and pans. This, he said, was in addition to a litany of structural problems.

"I didn't want to touch anything," Costa said.

The house has been condemned and will be demolished by Aug. 1. The home, a yellow, three-bedroom residence built in 1933, is owned by CTCE, Inc., according to the county assessor's office.

Janice Letsinger, which a neighbor described as kind and watchful of suspicious neighborhood happenings, lived at the home with her pets. She had 34 cats and a dog.

According to city codes, residents are not allowed to have more than six pets.

Costa said he thought Letsinger, who was not allowed to remain in the home, was "incapable of her own self-preservation."

Kathie Johnson, a city animal control officer, said Letsinger boarded the dog with a local kennel. The cats, many of which suffered from diarrhea and breathing problems, experienced a different fate.

"All of them had to be put to sleep because they were all sick," said Johnson, a city official who was called to the home. "We tried to save a few, but couldn't."

City officials are unsure of the Letsinger's whereabouts. She has been cited in Craig Municipal Court with four animal-related violations and is scheduled to appear on Wednesday June 28, 2006.

She is charged with animal neglect, accumulation of animals, a lack of cleanliness of premises and owner responsibility. She also will be responsible for paying for the animals' euthanization, which Johnson said would cost less than $500.

Like Costa, Johnson said the home was unfit for residence.

"It was completely unclean," she said. "There was cat feces everywhere, garbage everywhere, junk everywhere. It was really nasty."

Xochtil Nunez has lived next door for the last 11 years. She said Letsinger had been her neighbor the whole time.

Nunez said the Letsinger kept to herself but was nice to her family.

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References

Craig Daily Press  - June 22, 2006

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