ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604290063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEESBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
More than 100 cats were kept in a house without food or water, and resorted to eating one another and trying to scratch though a linoleum floor to find water, officials said.
The floors of the Sterling house were littered with the carcasses of 17 dead cats and covered by several inches of feces, Loudoun County animal warden Patricia Binns said.
Patricia M. Harper pleaded innocent to animal cruelty Thursday. She admitted owning the cats and surrendered them to the county animal shelter.
``The amount of aroma from the urine, the odor from the decomposing animals and the stench of feces ... burned our lungs and noses,'' Binns testified. ``Even with our masks on, we had to keep going outside to get fresh air.''
Officials testified they removed 105 cats from the two-story Colonial house last week. Harper, 55, owns the house, but officials do not believe she was living there.
She is charged with 25 counts of animal cruelty. Each misdemeanor charge carries up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Her trial is scheduled for July 26.
Binns and others described finding 20 cats trying to dig through a linoleum floor to get at a slow-dripping leak from a dishwasher.
``It's the most atrocious case I've ever heard of,'' said Nancy Patty, an official with the Humane Society of Loudoun County, who attended the hearing. ``I was getting sick to my stomach.''
Harper wouldn't discuss the charges. During the two-hour hearing, she sat with her head down and her hands clasped on her lap. On one wrist was a gold bracelet decorated with cat figures.
Harper ``meant no harm to the animals,'' said her attorney, Gerald R. Curren. ``I don't know what happened, but her husband died suddenly of a heart attack, and I think that kind of changed her life a great deal.'' He declined to comment further.
Loudoun officials said it was not clear how long the cats had lived in those conditions, or how Harper had come to possess so many.
Officials went to the house after a neighbor reported seeing several sick cats walking outside. The animals apparently had escaped through a small gap in a window.
Most of the animals removed from the house suffered from severe dehydration.
An official with the Loudoun County Animal Shelter said the seized cats are being treated, but many are not expected to survive. It is not clear how many would be considered fit for adoption, because they appear to have had little contact with people.
General District Court Judge James Forsyth ordered that Harper pay the cost of the animals' care, and barred her from owning cats or dogs again.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB