An Auckland woman who kept 32 cats in extremely poor conditions has been sentenced in Manukau District Court today.
Jane Whitworth was prosecuted by the SPCA and sentenced to 12 month’s supervision, fined $5,000, disqualified from owning cats for five years and ordered to pay the SPCA $4,416.
In a statement SPCA says in mid-2016 a SPCA inspectors attended a complaint at a South Auckland address.
Upon arrival, inspectors say the pathway to the house was heavily littered in debris, and a large volume of cat litter bags were piled by the front door.
The cats had obvious signs of illness, all of whom were in thin body condition, were poorly groomed, had eyes missing, eye and nasal discharge, breathing difficulties and were unsociable.
The defendant confirmed to the SPCA that she owned the property and all the cats but lived in central Auckland.
Ms Whitworth said she’d come to the South Auckland address to feed and water them and then admitted that she failed to do any cleaning at the property.
The SPCA says she continued to tell the inspectors that some cats were being re-infected because of the unsanitary living conditions, and then agreed to start a cleaning regime which she failed to do.
Several weeks later, SPCA inspectors executed a search warranted, assisted by the New Zealand Police, and found the inside of the house was covered in mould, defecation, mud, old cat litter and soiled materials.
The cats were seized and taken to Auckland Centre veterinary hospital and found an excessive level of disease in all the cats, including severe skin disease, ringworm, severe dental disease, glaucoma, ocular discharge, nasal discharge and Feline Leukaemia.
"This particular case is one of the worst cases of animal hoarding we have prosecuted," SPCA CEO, Andrea Midgen said in a statement.
"These cats were living in filthy conditions which made them extremely unwell. There was no way to effectively administer the critical medication they needed, let alone let them have a healthy, good life."
The cats who recovered from their illnesses were soon adopted into loving families.
SHARE ME