IDAHO -- A Boise, Idaho, woman accused of keeping more than 100 cats at her home in less then pristine conditions blasted the "heavy-handed" tactics of authorities.
Fifty-nine-year-old Gale McVay faces jail time if convicted of animal cruelty and neglect charges, reported the Boise (Idaho) Statesman Saturday.
"I'm outraged," McVay said. "They're my life, I love my cats. I've done the very best for them."
Animal control officers raided McVay's house Wednesday, while she was in the hospital. Idaho Humane Society spokeswoman Dee Fugit said they found 123 cats, many gravely ill, in a home covered in feces and urine.
McVay disputed the Humane Society's characterization of her and her home and although she said she didn't know about a dead cat found under the sofa, she did admit that some of her rescued cats had a flea problem.
Experts say a common misconception about animal hoarders is that they are people who simply took on too much and fell behind, or got overwhelmed, by the care and feeding of the animals they rescued from certain death.
In reality, hoarders compulsively collect animals and/or allow them to reproduce even as conditions deteriorate. They lack awareness and sympathy for the creatures they inadvertently torture in the name of rescue, said the Boston vet, Dr. Gary Patronek.
"I think of these as little animal concentration camps. It's disturbing," said Dr. Jeff Rosenthal, executive director of the Idaho Humane Society. "The animals suffer horribly."
2010 Update:
Gale McVay died on Oct 27, 2009 at the age of 63. Her obituary says she fought a long battle with Alzeimer's disease and dementia. These two illnesses may explain why she was so irrational about the squalid conditions of her home and the sick and dying cats she insisted were "fine".
(UPI - June 25, 2005)
