Thursday, May 20, 2004

Michigan: Harold Wyman, 66, had 80 cats suffering inside his feces and ammonia-filled home

MICHIGAN -- No charges will be filed against a Detroit man whose home was overrun by 80 cats because he called for help, the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.

Harold Wyman, 66, called an animal shelter to say caring for the houseful of cats was too much for him. The shelter in turn called the Michigan Humane Society, whose members showed up at his home in hazardous-material outfits.

Once inside, officials declared the house a bio-hazard as they scrambled through filth to capture the near-wild cats.

"We turned a couch over, and there must've been 50 cats," said Mark Ramos, a humane society investigator, after he emerged from the one-story brick home. "It's pretty bad in there. Everything's covered. There's parts of the room where it's several inches deep."

The cats were taken to the Detroit shelter for testing for diseases. Those that are healthy will be put up for adoption and the others destroyed.

Nice. They rescue them from horrendous conditions only to kill them.

Since he sought help with the cats, police said Wyman would not be charged with any city violation.

(UPI - May 20, 2004)