Detectives retrieve 52 felines alive; no charges filed in case. Authorities are investigating the deaths of two dozen cats found inside a woman's South Austin apartment in what investigators describe as one of the city's most horrific animal neglect cases.
Detectives discovered 23 decomposing cats in an unplugged refrigerator in the woman's home, one dead animal in the living area and two others in her car, Sgt. Stephen Fleming said.
Authorities said they are not sure how the cats died but think they may have suffered from a highly contagious respiratory illness.
Officials also removed 52 live cats Sept. 16 from the apartment at 1508 Southport Drive and placed them in shelters.
They said they were investigating the deaths and hadn't charged the 32-year-old woman with a crime. She could not be reached for comment.
Fleming said the woman adopted the cats from the Town Lake Animal Center because she thought they would be destroyed.
"It's a very tragic, unnecessary case," Fleming said. "Shelters are there to provide animals to people who want to rescue them, but (the adopters) need to make sure they have the ability to care for the animals. This backfired."
He said the woman attracted suspicion at the shelter because she was taking several cats at once.
Shelter operations manager Filip Gecic said workers thought the woman was placing them in new homes as part of a rescue group, but she was later unable to identify where those homes were.
The rescue group also told shelter employees that the woman was no longer affiliated with their organization.
Gecic said the woman was recently banned from taking any more cats. Officials said they did not know the total number she took from the shelter, but the facility has no set limit as long as people can show where the cats were placed.
Last week, Fleming said detectives were following up on concerns about the woman and called her apartment manager to verify where she lived. Apartment workers looked inside the woman's unit, found the dead cats and called 911 Thursday, he said.
Gecic said he was among several officials who went inside the unit to help collect the cats, which he said are now being treated for the respiratory illness.
When the refrigerator opened, he said: "A mass of bodies fell out. Some were in plastic bags and some just fell out."
"It was probably the most horrific human and animal habitat I've ever seen," Gecic said. "It was unbelievable."
Officials said they did not know how long the cats had been dead.
An apartment manager said that the woman has been evicted and that the unit is undergoing repairs. She declined to comment furtherBy
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
source : .statesman.com.
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