As WBBM Newsradio’s John Waelti reports, retired Waukegan police officer and animal activist Charlie Burleson made the discovery on the 1000 block of Windsor Road in Highland Park. She found the emaciated, diseased cats in the garage of a home that was in foreclosure.
The owners reportedly put two cats in the garage several years ago, and their offspring have been free to breed in hot, squalid conditions ever since.
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| The cats are finally being cared for properly |
Since being discovered, two of the cats have died, and three underwent tail amputations.
The fur on many of the cats was severely matted, and chunks of fur were found stuck in old furniture in the garage – suggesting the cats had gotten stuck and had torn themselves free. Other cats were malnourished and underweight.
Burleson, of Beach Park, said she took a “tiny,” emaciated, pregnant cat home that soon delivered two premature kittens. The mother cat required a hysterectomy. The kittens, tube-fed by Burleson until their mother was able to nurse them, have survived so far.
The cats are now in the care of Tails of Hope, an animal rescue agency.
Jorjic Badalpour, 60, and Agnes Badalpour, 56, of Highland Park, Ill., have been cited for unlawful treatment of animals and the keeping of animals in violation of city ordinances. They lived in the home with their adult children.
“Everyone in that house is responsible for this,” Burleson said.
[I agree. Those adult children sponged off their parents and lived in the home. If neighbors could smell the ammonia stench coming from the garage, there is no way these adult children did not know that there was a cat concentration camp on the premises. They knew. They are just as guilty.]
Moyer told the Tribune that the stench from the garage was "overwhelming." The cats had been living without food, litter boxes, proper grooming or ventilation for years.
"There was feces all over the floor. It was disgusting," she told the paper. "I've seen hoarder situations, but I'd say this was one of the worst."
(CBS Chicago - July 9, 2012)
