LATROBE, Pa.,None — Authorities removed 45 cats from an elderly woman's home in Latrobe on Wednesday afternoon.
Neighbors and humane agents said they knew the woman had many cats but, until recently, no one knew there were dozens or that the house was filled with animal feces and urine.
Other than two kittens that were found dead, the animals were well cared for and are in good condition, authorities said.
"The odor from just around her yard was absolutely deplorable," neighbor Susan Leonard said. "We tried to help her so many different times, so many different ways, and she just really refused the help."
"We were just to the point where she was willing to relinquish 10 (cats)," said Jan Dillon, a humane agent. "She was going to do it today, and then this all happened. So now it's not just 10, it's all of them."
Authorities said it was unlikely the woman, a former school teacher, would be charged because there is no ordinance limiting the number of animals someone can own.
"The problem arises when it starts affecting the other neighbors," Latrobe police Chief Charles Huska said.
The woman agreed to have a mental evaluation and was taken away in an ambulance Wednesday, authorities said.
The Westmoreland County Area Agency on Aging told Channel 11 News reporter Jodine Costanzo that the situation deteriorated rapidly. The agency said it can now take the action it would have liked to have taken sooner.
Neighbors said they were glad the woman was getting help.
The cats are being taken care of by the humane society.
Some municipalities have tried to limit the number of pets per household, but a state appeals court recently struck down an effort in Carnegie to limit the number of pets to no more than five per household.
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