I hate people...
Bluff City woman faces 81 counts of animal cruelty
04/28/2006
By BECKY CAMPBELL
BLOUNTVILLE - A Bluff City woman was arrested Thursday on 81 counts of aggravated animal cruelty for keeping 81 cats in a mire of filth and feces, officials said.
Lisa Shuttle, 44, 185 Hillcrest Road, Bluff City, remained jailed on the charges and will be arraigned Friday.
Sullivan County Sheriff's Office Detective Craig Carter said neighbor complaints about the Shuttle property spurred the investigation - which was the second in the past year.
"The complaint alleged that nearly 100 cats were being kept penned up inside the building and (the owner) never did more than feed them," Carter said.
SCSO and Bluff City animal control officials obtained a search warrant for the property at 171 Hillcrest Road, which adjoins the property where Shuttle lives with her mother, and conducted the search Tuesday.
Carter described the property as an old storefront that had been converted at one time into apartments.
The building was currently abandoned, he said, but Shuttle began using it for cats.
"All but two rooms had a carpet of cat waste between 1 and in excess of 5 inches deep," he said.
Carter said officers seized 39 cats on Tuesday at 171 Hillcrest Road but obtained from that property information about more animals being kept in the area.
"During the service of the first search warrant on Hillcrest Road, officers on scene could observe a kennel through the hedge that was located on the rear patio of the adjacent property," Carter said.
Officers saw more than 20 cats in that kennel, "and when the wind blew across the property a strong stench could be smelled," he said.
On Wednesday, officers obtained a warrant to search Shuttle's house and found 42 more cats.
"They were in a kennel in 8 to 18 inches of their own filth," Carter said.
He said Shuttle blamed her health and a full-time job as part of the reason for the conditions.
"Most of the cats would meet the definition of being feral. All had matted eyes, runny noses and some form of hair loss ranging from 40 to 90 percent," Carter said.
"There are some that may not survive, but they have to be kept for evidence, even at the expense of suffering," he said.
Carter said he did not believe Shuttle intentionally neglected the animals.
"It's good intentions gone awry. There is no way a person can maintain a full-time job and care for that many animals properly," he said.
Carter said the situation was more of a sanitation issue than anything because there is no county law limiting the number of cats a person can own.
Last year, Shuttle was investigated for the same allegations, but she was able to get the property cleaned up to the satisfaction of animal control officials, Carter said. That investigation concluded in August.
"If those cages have been cleaned out since then, I'd be surprised," he said.
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Published: April 27, 2006
04/28/2006
By BECKY CAMPBELL
BLOUNTVILLE - A Bluff City woman was arrested Thursday on 81 counts of aggravated animal cruelty for keeping 81 cats in a mire of filth and feces, officials said.
Lisa Shuttle, 44, 185 Hillcrest Road, Bluff City, remained jailed on the charges and will be arraigned Friday.
Sullivan County Sheriff's Office Detective Craig Carter said neighbor complaints about the Shuttle property spurred the investigation - which was the second in the past year.
"The complaint alleged that nearly 100 cats were being kept penned up inside the building and (the owner) never did more than feed them," Carter said.
SCSO and Bluff City animal control officials obtained a search warrant for the property at 171 Hillcrest Road, which adjoins the property where Shuttle lives with her mother, and conducted the search Tuesday.
Carter described the property as an old storefront that had been converted at one time into apartments.
The building was currently abandoned, he said, but Shuttle began using it for cats.
"All but two rooms had a carpet of cat waste between 1 and in excess of 5 inches deep," he said.
Carter said officers seized 39 cats on Tuesday at 171 Hillcrest Road but obtained from that property information about more animals being kept in the area.
"During the service of the first search warrant on Hillcrest Road, officers on scene could observe a kennel through the hedge that was located on the rear patio of the adjacent property," Carter said.
Officers saw more than 20 cats in that kennel, "and when the wind blew across the property a strong stench could be smelled," he said.
On Wednesday, officers obtained a warrant to search Shuttle's house and found 42 more cats.
"They were in a kennel in 8 to 18 inches of their own filth," Carter said.
He said Shuttle blamed her health and a full-time job as part of the reason for the conditions.
"Most of the cats would meet the definition of being feral. All had matted eyes, runny noses and some form of hair loss ranging from 40 to 90 percent," Carter said.
"There are some that may not survive, but they have to be kept for evidence, even at the expense of suffering," he said.
Carter said he did not believe Shuttle intentionally neglected the animals.
"It's good intentions gone awry. There is no way a person can maintain a full-time job and care for that many animals properly," he said.
Carter said the situation was more of a sanitation issue than anything because there is no county law limiting the number of cats a person can own.
Last year, Shuttle was investigated for the same allegations, but she was able to get the property cleaned up to the satisfaction of animal control officials, Carter said. That investigation concluded in August.
"If those cages have been cleaned out since then, I'd be surprised," he said.
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Published: April 27, 2006