Two Hatboro Women Charged With Animal Cruelty
By Brad Segall
HATBORO, Pa (CBS) -- In what Montgomery County prosecutors call a classic case of hoarding, a mother and her daughter were charged with more than 70 counts of animal cruelty on Thursday after authorities found three dozen cats in their Hatboro home.
Officials in Hatboro condemned the East Monument Avenue home and removed the occupants and the cats after authorities found the house filled with feces and urine last Friday.
Eighty-five-year-old Elwine Kimball and her 51-year-old daughter Diana were charged with 72 counts of animal cruelty and two counts of conspiracy.
"They were hoarding cats in that home, which basically means collecting cats to the point where they are unable to care for them," said Prosecutor Abby Silverman. "A lot of them needed veterinary care and it just becomes deplorable conditions."
Humane officers had to wear hazmat suits during the five hours it took to clean out the house.
The cats were being cared for by the SPCA in Montgomery County.
"To this point they have all survived," Silverman said. "My understanding was that a lot of them did need immediate veterinary care, so it was fortunate that they were able to get in there and rescue them when they did."
The cats were not available to be adopted until the case was resolved by the court. A summary trial for the two women was scheduled for late August.
