[WhiteRat]

More kitty cat madness:

Cats' plight a legal issue

Three charged in mistreatment of nearly 400 animals

BY NANCY YANG

Pioneer Press

The three residents of a St. Croix Falls, Wis., home where nearly 400 cats were removed by authorities last month have each been charged with three misdemeanors.

Dorothy Weinhardt, 86, her daughter, Jean Bloomquist, 47, and son-in-law, Wayne Bloomquist, 52, were charged Thursday with mistreating animals and providing inadequate sanitary conditions and ventilation at their house at 209 S. River St.

According to the criminal complaint, the animal mistreatment count stems from the discovery by health and public safety investigators of a live adult cat and kitten that were placed on the second floor of the house in a small plastic container that was duct-taped shut, denying them access to air or water. It was not known how long the cats had been in the container.

More than 100 cats were found dead around the house, the complaint says, including some in bags and some inside pop bottles that had been cut open and duct-taped shut. In addition, "there was cat feces and matted hair all over the floors and there did not appear to be a clean spot anywhere," the complaint states.

When Sgt. David Lindholm of the Polk County Sheriff's Department entered the home, "his eyes immediately began to burn from the smell of ammonia and cat urine in the air," the complaint says.

The complaint quotes Weinhardt as saying she was aware of the dead cats and had been trying to get them removed, but she reportedly denied there were as many cats in the house as police said. The retired health care nurse also reportedly told police she knew the living conditions in the home were unsanitary but that she wanted to save the cats that were still alive.

Authorities decided the safest course would be to euthanize the living cats, some of which reportedly had missing eyes, open sores and suffered from upper respiratory infections.

Attempts Thursday to reach Weinhardt and her attorney were not successful.

The conditions inside the home were brought to authorities' attention by an Xcel Energy worker, who stopped at the home Nov. 3 and saw dozens of sick cats and several inches of feces on the floor while he was talking to Weinhardt.

City and county officials got a warrant to search the home Nov. 4, and after the county Health Department took an air quality sample, the residents were evacuated and the house condemned. On Nov. 4 and 5, crews removed approximately 379 cats from the home. They removed five more on Nov. 16.

In addition to the air quality sample, which confirmed the strong presence of ammonia, health officials also took samples of fluid suspected to be urine — some human — from several containers in the home, according to the complaint. District Attorney Karen Olson said she has not seen the test results from those samples.

In the complaint, Brian Hobbs of the Polk County Health Department said he "found the residence contaminated beyond the point where it could be saved" because high levels of urine had soaked deep into the house's structure. He recommended its demolition because it was unfit for human habitation and posed a major public health hazard in that the conditions could potentially spread disease to those living in the area.

Melanie Beam, who lives about three houses away from Weinhardt, said she isn't too concerned about any immediate health issues that could affect her family.

"The house has been broken into since (the raid)," she said. "So whatever was in there is already out here."

She said she and her family have not gotten sick. However, she said she thinks the house should be razed.

Officials have condemned the house — which is one of the oldest in the community of about 2,100 people — but it has not been demolished. A judge will most likely determine its fate.

Weinhardt and the Bloomquists are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. in Balsam Lake. Each of the three counts carries a potential fine of $10,000 and nine months in jail.

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