The owner, Ruth Barnett, 61, was already on probation after being convicted of animal cruelty back in 2011.
“These are not her babies. They are not treated well,” said Executive Director Nancy Chicotel from the Huron County Humane Society.
She said they went to Barnett’s after someone reported she was hoarding cats. When they got there, though, they didn’t see anything.
But as they continued searching, they discovered a dilapidated camper in the back. All the cats had been hidden in there.
Some were shoved into cabinets, others crammed into crates.
With the help of Willard police, the animals were rescued. Unfortunately, not all survived. Eleven had to be put down.
“They were in pain and sick and needed to be euthanized. It was the humane thing to do. So the ones that we have left will see the vet on Tuesday and the vet will tell us how to proceed from there,” said Chicotel.
She said Barnett’s conviction in 2011 stemmed from a similar situation. She had been caught with 90 cats. As a result, she was put on probation as part of her punishment and was also limited to owning three pets.
Chicotel said she refuses to let something like that happen again, and said she won’t rest until Barnett is charged.
“Personally I would like to shut her down, no animals. I would like to make sure that Ruth is never allowed to get to this place again. I think we have enough history that it’s something that we can request,” she said.
Caring for all these cats is going to be costly, so to help with that, the shelter is seeking donations.
(FOX8 - Dec 8, 2014)
hell on earth.
ReplyDelete