Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Citrus County 'cat house' to be demolished Tuesday

FLORIDA -- What has been described as the "cat house" of Citrus County is scheduled to be leveled Tuesday morning.

Animal control and firefighters swept the house again, Monday, looking for cats.

At last count, they found 126 scattered throughout, hiding in the walls and attic. Twenty-six of those have been euthanized so far.


County code enforcement deemed the house unsafe after the cats were rescued last month.

The home's owner, John Callagy, 49, and his girlfriend, Victoria Gatto, 42, were arrested on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty.


Neighbors said they have since been released and have been seen collecting mail from the address.

Tim Bias has lived across the street for nearly 25 years and remembers when Callagy's parents lived in the home.

He said they took great care and pride of it years ago, and their son, John did the same for four to five years after they died.

"It's sad," Bias said. "Then they passed away, and he met some girl, and it went down to what you see now."

  

The home was initially scheduled to be demolished at 8:30 a.m., but that time was pushed back to 10 a.m. because the power has to be disconnected.

(FOX 13 Tampa Bay, WTVT-TV - Dec 1, 2014)

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