PENNSYLVANIA -- Animal cruelty charges are expected to be filed next week against Timothy Michael Weltmer and his girlfriend Michele Lynn Ryan who allegedly left 20 cats inside a home and moved away without telling their landlord, leaving the animals to die, borough police said.
The cats were discovered on July 13 by the landlord, including the rotting carcasses of eight of the animals.
Investigators later learned the tenants, Michele Ryan and Tim Weltmer, had relocated less than 300 yards away to a home on West Big Spring Avenue, Chief Randy Finkey said.
“So much about this is troubling to me, but they were right around the corner and could have cared for these animals,” Finkey said. “The whole thing is just sickening.”
Police had to wear gas masks and hazardous material suits to enter the apartment, which was about 100-degrees with all the windows closed.
The remaining cats survived by cannibalizing the dead ones, Finkey said. Three unopened 15-pound bags of cat food were also found inside the home.
The surviving animals are being cared for by the Better Days Animal League in Shippensburg, Finkey said.
When criminal charges are filed, the organization is expected to petition the court for ownership so the cats can be put up for adoption, because legally they are still owned by the couple who abandoned them, Finkey said.
A total of 109 misdemeanor and summary charges are expected to be filed against the couple, Finkey said.
(PennLive - July 29, 2011)
