Cats damage two homes, two arrested

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A man and woman face criminal charges after authorities say they allowed dozens of cats to overrun two houses they rented in Fort Wayne, causing thousands of dollars in damage.

Allen County prosecutors filed felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges Tuesday against Constance Anderson, 50, Jeffrey Tourney, 45. Court documents say the animals caused $64,000 in damage to one house and $13,000 to another, The Journal Gazette reported .

Officers from the city's neighborhood code enforcement and animal control agencies checked out complaints about one of the houses in March and found 84 living and 14 dead cats inside.

Officials said the house was covered in cat feces and urine, and the furniture had deteriorated. That house in a neighborhood north of the city's downtown has been condemned and boarded up.

Twenty-three live cats and 21 dead cats were found at the second house, according to court documents.

No home phone numbers were listed for Anderson or Tourney, and court records on Wednesday didn't list defense attorneys for them.

No court hearings were immediately scheduled. If convicted, they each face possible sentences of six months to three years in prison on the most serious charges.

Anderson told investigators they moved into the first house six years ago with a male cat and acquired a stray female that had kittens, court documents said. The cats kept having kittens and soon the situation spiraled out of control.

Anderson said Tourney stopped helping her with the cats after it became overwhelming, but said that she went over almost daily to provide food and water for the cats, according to court documents. The couple said they had no cats at the home where they moved, but when the property owner checked that house March 13, he found several cats there.

More dead cats were in the freezer and bags and boxes of dead kittens were also found, with some of the kittens' bodies in pieces and others appeared to have been struck with a blunt object, the court documents said.