70 cats found in Indiana home after woman's death
DALEVILLE, Ind. — Dozens of cats were removed from a condemned Daleville house on Wednesday, a day after an elderly woman died there.
The 75-year-old woman’s death was believed to be the result of health problems. An autopsy was to be conducted Wednesday at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, according to Delaware County Coroner Scott Hahn.
Authorities called as a result of the woman’s death Tuesday evening found the house — two houses east of the Salem Township Fire Department — full of cats, perhaps totaling more than 70, Muncie Animal Shelter superintendent Phil Peckinpaugh said.
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Fifteen cats and two dogs were removed from the house on Tuesday night. A child who apparently lived in the house with three adults, including the woman who died, was placed in the care of Child Protective Services workers, Peckinpaugh said.
On Wednesday morning, the animal shelter superintendent and about a half-dozen of his employees returned to the property. Clad in protective gear and wearing breathing masks – the odor of cat urine was nearly overwhelming when they would open the front door – they began the task of catching and removing the remaining cats.
Peckinpaugh called it likely the worst case of pet hoarding he's dealt with in five years on the job.
Within an hour, about 25 cats – some sadly meowing when a human would approach – were in pet carriers in the front yard, awaiting transfer to the shelter.
Peckinpaugh said the shelter was already at full capacity, and without the funding needed to pay for any medical treatment the dozens of felines might require.
He urged local residents to help by either adopting pets to make space available in the shelter, serving as temporary “foster” pet owners to temporarily lower the population, or making financial donations.
The cats removed Wednesday morning appeared to be in reasonably good health, but Peckinpaugh said he anticipated some would have respiratory ailments due to the poor air quality in the house.
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The superintendent said the cats appeared to belong to the other adults living in the house, not the woman who died Tuesday. There were no cats in her bedroom, he said.
Daleville Police Chief James King said he believed the house had been condemned prior to the woman’s death. He said water service to the house had apparently been shut off.
Follow Douglas Walker on Twitter: @DouglasWalkerSP.