Couple Charged After 697 Cats Seized

rockin'robin

rockin'robin

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Case Largest Cat Hoarding Humane Society Of US Has Ever Participated In

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. -- A High Springs couple accused of hoarding 697 cats have been arrested.

Pennie and Steven Lefkowitz, the owners of Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary, are each facing 35 counts of animal cruelty. They have bonded out of jail.

Alachua County Animal Services removed the cats from the sanctuary in High Springs in June in what is the biggest case of cat hoarding the Humane Society of the United States has ever participated in and is in the top three of the largest cat hoarding cases in U.S. history.

The cats were put in a warehouse that became a makeshift shelter. About 100 of them had to be put down.

The rest have been receiving treatment and are being spayed and neutered by University of Florida veterinary students. They will be put up for adoption in the coming weeks.

Alachua County Animal Services said the agency received calls from people who needed to get rid of their cats and left them at Haven Acres.

Images: Ill Cats Taken From Sanctuary

The agency said residents thought they were taking their cats to a "county club environment."

Pennie Lefkowitz said in June that she doesn't believe she or her husband are hoarders. She said they were just trying to help out as many of the cats as possible.

But she did admit that they may have gone overboard and acquired too many cats.

"I was just tired of seeing so much euthanasia and wanted to know what we could do personally, and he said Alachua County needed a cat sanctuary," Pennie Lefkowitz said in June.

She said they spent more than $33,000 on the shelter last year alone.


Previous Stories:
June 9, 2011: 697 Felines Seized From Cat Sanctuary

Couple Charged After 697 Cats Seized - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
 
Oy. Those poor kitties.

This sounds like good-hearted but not too bright people who had good intentions, but got in way, way over their heads.
 
Beach girl said:
Oy. Those poor kitties.

This sounds like good-hearted but not too bright people who had good intentions, but got in way, way over their heads.
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I think you might be right Beachgirl.
Sad situation for all parties involved.
 
Yea, seems like once they got going, they couldnt stop. That's a high number!
 
cat hoarding :roll:
 
Jiro said:
cat hoarding :roll:
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Yes!
My niece and her spouse both are hoarders. They both have 21 cats, 6 cats in the house and 15 cats in the basement. I took care of their cats and plus rabbits last week, while they went away for a retreat. (They just moved back to Massachusetts again from KY.)
The cats vomited and made poops almost everywhere, which I had to clean up after. That really pissed me off. (Of course, I told my niece about her cats' situation and that cats are really sick. She said I will receive a payment in the mail from her bank, not mentioned about her cats being sick, etc. Can you imagine that?)
I don't know what to do about my niece and her spouse? I love them both. They need a professional help. It's sad... Sigh..
 
Sosie said:
Yes!
My niece and her spouse both are hoarders. They both have 21 cats, 6 cats in the house and 15 cats in the basement. I took care of their cats and plus rabbits last week, while they went away for a retreat. (They just moved back to Massachusetts again from KY.)
The cats vomited and made poops almost everywhere, which I had to clean up after. That really pissed me off. (Of course, I told my niece about her cats' situation and that cats are really sick. She said I will receive a payment in the mail from her bank, not mentioned about her cats being sick, etc. Can you imagine that?)
I don't know what to do about my niece and her spouse? I love them both. They need a professional help. It's sad... Sigh..
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Professional help is possible. They know how to convice hoaders to give it all up and lead a better life.
 
sequoias said:
Professional help is possible. They know how to convice hoaders to give it all up and lead a better life.
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Sequoias, I hope the sooner, but I am worried about their landlord who will find out that my niece and her spouse both have 21 cats instead of 6 cats, which they lied to their landlord.. The landlord can kick them out, if he finds out.. and also, I am worried that my niece and her spouse probably will end up in the prison for animal cruelty. They have two small children, (whom they need to think about), whom I was babysitting last week. I took two photos of my great-niece and nephew on my FB page. They are so cute! (I love them sooo much!)
I saw the poor cats, it made me sick.. (I was so exhausted to take care of the cats and rabbits, because it's a lot of work, like feeding and scooping and cleaning up the mess, etc... Of course, I am SO upset and crying because I still don't know what to do with my niece and her spouse's situation.
Of course, my sister and her husband both know that but they said their daughter and spouse both are adults. I wanted to say something to my niece about her cats' situation but my family said I should butt out. I found this very frustrating!!!!
 
Wirelessly posted (droid)

They are people with a serious mental health issue. Being angry at them doesn't help.
 
Wirelessly posted (droid)

Usually something bad happens to make hoarders go off the deep end, like the death of a child. The problem is that a professional has to get the person to deal directly with the trauma. That's hard because the reason a person started hoarding is to avoid dealing with the loss. Most difficult! It's like any other addiction. Most if us get by with small addictions, like drinking, smoking, shopping, workaholicism, etc. When you understand that, it's easier to have compassion. You still have to deal with the consequences, though, and that's challenging and frustrating.
 
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sallylou said:
Wirelessly posted (droid)

Usually something bad happens to make hoarders go off the deep end, like the death of a child. The problem is that a professional has to get the person to deal directly with the trauma. That's hard because the reason a person started hoarding is to avoid dealing with the loss. Most difficult! It's like any other addiction. Most if us get by with small addictions, like drinking, smoking, shopping, workaholicism, etc. When you understand that, it's easier to have compassion. You still have to deal with the consequences, though, and that's challenging and frustrating.
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I agree. Sigh...
 
Well, you know Sosie...some people have told you to "butt out"....but that's not helping ur relative's situation with all those 21 cats!...And you've got a bonafide concern about ur neice and nephew!....I can imagine all the fleas, pet dander and the liter boxes.....not a sanitary place for humans to live. And people can actually get sick living there.

If it were me, I would take a few steps to try to remedy the situation. If you can't convince ur relative to give up some of those cats, then it's best to report it. The cats are suffering, along with the people living there. Perhaps you can report it and remain "confidential"...just informing Animal Control of the situation and saying you don't want to give ur name.....

Sooner or later, the Landlord is going to find out anyway and probably evict them, no fault of ur own....I know I would!
 
rockin'robin said:
Well, you know Sosie...some people have told you to "butt out"....but that's not helping ur relative's situation with all those 21 cats!...And you've got a bonafide concern about ur neice and nephew!....I can imagine all the fleas, pet dander and the liter boxes.....not a sanitary place for humans to live. And people can actually get sick living there.

If it were me, I would take a few steps to try to remedy the situation. If you can't convince ur relative to give up some of those cats, then it's best to report it. The cats are suffering, along with the people living there. Perhaps you can report it and remain "confidential"...just informing Animal Control of the situation and saying you don't want to give ur name.....

Sooner or later, the Landlord is going to find out anyway and probably evict them, no fault of ur own....I know I would!
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Yeah, I know.. sigh.. I will try to talk to my niece, to give up some of her cats, if it fails and then, I will have a talk with my niece's youngest sister, to see what she has to say. So, stay tuned.
 
wrong post in wrong thread.
 
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:ugh: I do not think they were hoarders. I feel that since it was a Sanctuary, they tend to get $$. :hmm:

They should have sent the cats elsewhere when they knew they could not handle it.. I am wondering if they were afraid of losing donations and grants.

Home This is a link to their website.
 
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