This is so disturbing...

just a note: they showed the cats on the news while they were hauling them out, tears just rolled down my face. Some had bloody faces, others had eyes closed shut and were so skinny. How could anyone do this? Here is the story:


Woman arrested; 20 cats euthanized after being left alone in motel for six days
05:48 PM CST on Friday, February 11, 2005


WWLTV.com



A Northshore doctor has been arrested on charges that she left 20 cats alone in a Hammond motel for six days.


Some of the cats taken on Friday from Miller's home are brought to animal control. Their eventual fate is uncertain.

The cats had to be euthanized after they were found living in unsanitary conditions and suffering from respiratory problems. All of the animals were emaciated and animal control officials said they were put down after consulting a local veterinarian.


According to Hammond Police, 65-year-old Mary Crossley Miller, who is an on-call physician at a state institution for the developmentally challenged, left the animals at the Plaza Inn and Suites in Hammond where they spent at least six days without care.


"We tried to enter the room and I couldn't stay but about 30 seconds," said Bobby Hopson of the animal control center. "It was so bad I had to come out and catch my breath."


Hopson said the animals had filled the room with feces and that some of them were bleeding out of their noses, many had lost much of their hair.


Police arrested Miller when she returned to the motel to get her pets and then raided her home, where eventually neighbors helped them collect another 30 cats. The fate of those animals had yet to be determined Friday afternoon.



Miller, who faces 21 counts of animal cruelty, posted a $10,500 bond and left the Tangipahoa Parish Jail.


Charles Christmas, an attorney hired on Miller's behalf, said she began collecting cats after her husband's death.


"People on her behalf have told me this is a compulsive thing with her," said Christmas. "She has spent thousands of dollars a month to take care of these animals. I don't think at this point it would be prosecutorial."