Elderly woman hoards more than 300 cats (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(As a cat owner, I find this very sad. I know these stories are rare, but what can be done when you meet people like this? Is their any way to help avoid tragedies like this?)

Elderly woman hoards more than 300 cats

Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:57 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 300 cats, nearly a third of them dead, were removed from an elderly woman's Virginia home after neighbors complained of a stench coming from the house, police said on Tuesday. The house, less than a mile from late President George Washington's historic Mount Vernon estate, looked neat from the outside with manicured lawns and bright flowers, but inside it was overflowing with wild cats, feces and urine.

"Cats were coming out of the cabinets and drawers and were inside the walls. There were hundreds of them," Fairfax County Police officer Richard Henry told Reuters. He said animal control officers removed 273 cats -- 86 of them dead -- over the weekend and slapped a condemnation order on the door of the house. The woman, her husband and daughter were told to leave.

Later on, Henry said, the woman returned and attempted to smuggle an additional 30 cats from the house. These animals were confiscated, bringing the total to more than 300.

Ruth Knueven, 82, was charged with failing to care for her animals and of improperly disposing of them. Dozens of dead cats were found in plastic bins around the house.

<http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2005-07-12T135625Z_01_N12552313_RTRIDST_0_USREPORT-ODD-CATS-DC.XML>
(more at link above)

[sam sarrha]

1. you can just "Smell" the love......

[ender]

2. i've got a crazy cat-lady aunt...

and... honestly, no one knows how many cats she has. you can smell the house from over a block away.

and no, there is nothing that anyone in the family can do about it, unless you think that calling the cops is a good idea.

[Merlot]

14. I do think calling the ASPCA is a good idea

It's not healthy for cats or humans to live like that. And it's very cruel to the cats. Your crazy cat-lady aunt is in need of help.

[kestrel91316]

17. Wrong-o ..........

You can and should do something. Animal neglect is a form of animal abuse. Your local Dept of Animal Regulation or animal control or whatever it's called there can and should intervene, but they have to be asked to. File a complaint of animal abuse with the authorities. File a complaint with the local health department. Call the fire department regarding a fire hazard there so they can go in, see the problem, and call in animal reg. Contact your city attorney and/or district attorney. This is a crime, and the hoarder is in need of medical/psychiatric attention.

[xultar]

21. PLEASE CALL! THE CATS DON'T DESERVE THAT!

Please call and get your aunt and the cats some help.
PLEASE!! :cry:

[Triana]

3. Is this some sort of 'hording' disorder?

I don't understand people who do this. I understand love of animals and wanting to adopt but this is just SO OVERBOARD. What is going on with people who do this type of thing?

[Lorien]

6. Yes, I think it's related to obsessive/ compulsive disorder

from what I've read. I've got three cats of my own, and four fosters at the moment. There's no way in hell the rescue is talking me into another foster right now! I simply can't imagine what that home would have been like. :scared:

[barb162]

8. I can't figure it out either because they are letting the animals die

and live in filthy conditions.

[kestrel91316]

18. It is a mental illness ..............

like the trash/newspaper hoarders with the homes that need to be bulldozed.

[Iamthewinner]

4. funding pet-cops

I watch the "pet cops" on some cable channel once in a while. I think there needs to be more of them on the street.

I have heard of scandals where they take perfectly good pets away from the home (usually when an animal is worth a lot of money), but I believe some tweaking would take care of that problem. Maybe 2 independent parties could determine the situation, then take the pet away if they feel it is in danger. Also, when a pet is taken away, the owner should be allowed a court appeal process, this way the scandal is less likely to happen.

As for pet-cops....it is all too good to be true. I think the government/state has more "important" things to fund.

[Iamthewinner]

5. also have to remember this lady is mentally disturbed....

"cat collectors" don't have all their marbles. Something is psychologically wrong with her or she wouldn't be like this.

Ritalin worthy? haha

[meganmonkey]

7. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[geomon666]

10. What about the husband and daughter?

Are they mental too? :shrug:

[Up2Late]

15. That's the part that bugs me a LOT too. Most of the time, people like...

...this live alone. This is almost criminal on the part of the Husband and Daughters part. They should have done something to help correct this problem.

Hey geomon666, could you do me a favor? I don't know who moved this story to the DU Lounge, but could you move it over to General Discussion? Yes, I can see how some here might not find this LBN worthy, but chucking this into the Lounge to die, that's a bit harsh. This topic will die a quick death here, it would probably do better in GD.

[Up2Late]

23. Kick n/t

:kick:

[Lilyhoney]

16. I think you have been "tweaking"

[Jack The Tab]

9. I wonder what I would do if I lived next door to that...

and god knows it can only bring your own property value down living next to that giant litter box.

[kwyjibo]

11. here's a photo!

[ghostsofgiants]

13. Hahaha, dammit, you beat me to it!

[Merlot]

12. I read that the amonia smell of the urine from cats can contribute

to the cat-hording behavior. People who hoard animals are mentally ill. Usually it's just one person, I've never heard of three people living in a house ike that.

I feel so sorry for the poor cats, trapped like that. Cat hell. My three cats are SO pampered! I hope those cats get a chance at a good life.

[kestrel91316]

19. Unfortunately ...................

there is a very good chance that the vast majority of these cats are suffering from fatal infectious diseases such as Feline Leukemia Virus, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, and Feline Infectious Peritonitis. Those who don't probably have a variety of other seriously neglected conditions such as dental disease, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes. I guarantee none or few have had anything resembling appropriate veterinary cre foe most of their pitiful lives.

I know about these sorts of things because I am a veterinarian with a cat practice. People like this, though I realize they need mental help, make me want to throttle them. And it goes on on a much smaller scale all the time. I have two clients right now who admit to having 15 cats each, but judging from the hideous smell on their clothes, the carriers, and the cats themselves every time they come in, I am guessing they actually each have over 30. Cat collectors are notorious liars and have elaborate schemes for keeping the truth from us vets because they know we are in a position to intervene.

[WeRQ4U]

20. Animal Hoarding with a Relatively Happy Ending.... FOR ME!

My little dog "Pippy" was a product of an animal hoarding case...

In Eastern Oregon. The family had something like 500 animals. Cats, dogs, livestock etc. The dogs had no human contact, but were penned up in the back yard. THey had regressed civilly and began to dig burrows underground and had resorted to killing the weaker members of the pack for food. It was a gruesome site. When the people were shut down, they instantly had to euthanize hundreds of the dogs. Then they sent the rest to shelters and rescues throughout the tri-state area. My wife and I went to one of the rescues to check them out. They were the scraggliest bunch of dogs ever. Many of them were simply unfit for human companionship. They were uncomfortable around humans in general. They bit a lot etc. But we found one that was so docile and so strange she was cute. She was only about 9 pounds and looked like a cross between EVERYTHING. She had a giant tuft of hair on her head and LOVED to sit in your lap. We asked about her, and the lady said that she had already adopted her, but that she had actually arrived pregnant from the hoarders' house. So we decided to adopt one of the two babies.

She must not have had enough oomph to get out two WHOLE babies because although our dog was born intact, her little brother was missing the front half of his right front leg. He didn't know any better, so it wasn't a big problem for him. If I didn't already have another dog at home, I would have bought him too, but alas, he went to another family.

The dog we rescued was 2 pounds when we took her home. She fit in the palm of my hand. We let her walk around in the grass, but she tripped. She has since grown to about 5 pounds total. She looks like a mixture of Chihuahua (sp) and african fruit bat or something. She's as dumb as a box or lava rock, but cute as hell. We named her Pip Squeak or "Pippy" for short. SHe is one of the best dogs I have ever had.

Pointless post, but at least a little brighter story considering the subject.

P.S. If you're gonig to get a dog, adopt one. There are so many out there that need homes.

[skygazer]

22. I agree that this is a sort of mental illness

As for the husband and daughter, who knows? Perhaps the build-up was so gradual, they were overwhelmed before they knew it. Perhaps they feared calling the authorities because they suspected the old lady would be carted off to a nuthouse. Perhaps she was one of those persuasive people who had her family cowed. Perhaps it was a number of things that kept them from doing anything.

Very, very sad. I knew a cat hoarder though not on this scale. The woman honestly felt that she was doing these cats a favor by taking them in, that she was saving them from the pound or something. Unfortunately, they probably would have been better of being quietly euthanised than to live such a life.