PORT ORANGE, Fla. – More than 80 sick and injured cats, one dog and 34 dead cats were removed from a Port Orange woman’s apartment last week, new reports reveal.
Port Orange police responded to Riverside Drive in reference to a medical call around 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Upon their arrival, officers said they found the 850-square-foot apartment was littered with “puddles of urine and feces,” according to the police report.
The 49-year-old woman who lived in the apartment was transported to Halifax Hospital for medical treatment, police said.
[Previous story: 84 cats, 1 dog found in Port Orange apartment]
Port Orange Animal Control also responded to the scene due to concerns for the health and safety of the animals.
One Port Orange police officer said when they reached the top of the stairs to the apartment “the smell was so severe that I was unable to breathe and my eyes began to sting.”
The Port Orange Fire Department allowed the officers to use their oxygen masks so they could check on the animals.
The responding officers said no food bowls and only one cat food bag contained crumbs in it. No dog food was found.
“Two cats (were) fighting over the last of the (food) crumbs,” according to the report.
Several cats were missing eyes, the officer wrote in the incident report.
Port Orange police, with the help of Volusia County Animal Services and animal control, removed 43 sick cats and one Yorkie-mix dog on Jan. 5 from the woman's apartment, according to the incident report.
Cats were found under and behind furniture.
When officers and animal control returned on Jan. 6, they found 41 more sick cats along with 34 dead cats stuffed in trash bags in “varying stages of decomposition,” according to the report.
Police said that all 85 living animals were transported to the Halifax Humane Society for care and treatment.
This is an ongoing investigation. Port Orange police have asked anyone with information regarding this case to contact Port Orange Animal Control Officer Jennifer Macsar at 386-527-6943.
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