Man Arrested in Feces-Filled Home [300 cats in house!]

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 4/16/07 | AP

[TFFKAMM]

(04-16) 15:54 PDT Ocala, Fla. (AP) --

A man living in a home with a layer of animal feces between 2 and 3 inches deep and as many as 300 cats, both alive and dead, was arrested Friday, authorities said.

Jonathan Terpstra, 61, was charged with 55 counts of animal cruelty, two counts of tampering with evidence and one count of resisting without violence, the Ocala Star-Banner reported.

Authorities had to break some windows to ventilate the home. Oxygen levels inside the home were low and ammonia levels extremely high, said Lt. Ron Baroni, with Marion County Fire Rescue.

Animal feces also was backed up in corners and crevices, Baroni said.

One deputy told the paper that when he arrived at the home, there were vultures feeding on a cat carcass and more vultures on the rooftop.

Animal control officials removed at least 80 cats from the home by Friday evening, said Dennis Underwood, an animal control field supervisor with the county's Code Enforcement Department. The animals were being examined, Underwood said.

Terpstra was being held at the Marion County jail on $1,000 bond.

[al baby]

Thats alot of Cat Pelosi

[Mr. Mojo]

Vultures feeding on a cat carcass in his house? I've read more than a few gross pet hording stories, but this one beats all.

[martin_fierro]

"Next time on Flip That House..."

[dynachrome]

“there were vultures feeding on a cat carcass”
Murtha and his boys?

[hosepipe]

Democrats?.... WOO .. WEE....

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Reminds me, time to clean the litter box!

[John Will]

Is this madness?

THIS IS CATTA!!!!!!!!!

[TFFKAMM]

ping

[Slings and Arrows]

One deputy told the paper that when he arrived at the home, there were vultures feeding on a cat carcass and more vultures on the rooftop.

The media were already there?

[RunningWolf]

Man they will have to bulldoze that house down.

[Slings and Arrows]

I agree. They’ll never get the smell out. It would be like living in a French cheese factory.

[JRios1968]

What a load of...

[Malacoda]

I say they take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Seriously, though -- imagine the vermin. Burning it down might be the best option.

[metmom]

Sounds about as bad as some places in the welfare town we used to live in. There was a cat filled house down the street from us and you couldn't stand the stench if the wind was blowing in your direction. Course, some human filled places weren't much better.

Sad thing was, the house had a child in it that had rheumatoid arthritis, which can be caused by allergies. The cats could have been the cause of his problems.

[metmom]

It should go up fast being burned. But seriously, that sounds the best. Bulldozing it would raise a lot of dust. I sure wouldn’t want that blowing onto my property.

[bedolido]

Goldfinger (1964)... pussy golore (Honor Blackman)

[vetvetdoug]

I bet the fellow just loved animals and had the sympathy of the liberals. I'd also like to know his Toxoplasma gondii titer.

[RunningWolf]

Burning is what I thought too, but did not know if it would be legal.