Animals

County Caring for 79 Cats Seized from Mira Mesa Home

Reading Time: 2 minutes

A Mira Mesa woman is under investigation for possible criminal charges after County animal control officers seized 80 cats from her home Monday.

One of the cats has died due to illness. County Animal Services is caring for the remaining 79 animals at its shelters in San Diego and Carlsbad.

All the animals are sick, most with upper respiratory infections and some with ringworm and ear mites. Some may have fatal illnesses including feline leukemia and distemper.

“It’s disturbing, it’s disappointing…there are a variety of words you could use to describe it,” said County Animal Services Spokesman Lt. Dan DeSousa.

Disappointing, he explained, because Animal Services had previously taken action against the Mira Mesa woman for having too many cats. For the past two years, animal control officers had been working with her to help make sure she owned only as many cats as she could keep healthy and sanitary.

Her name has not been disclosed because of the open investigation, DeSousa said.

Based on new information, animal control officers got a search warrant to enter her home Monday, where they discovered the dozens of ill cats in all parts of the house, DeSousa said.

From the outside, the home looked immaculate.

None of the cats is yet available for adoption. They’re ill, and, for now, Animal Services must keep them as “evidence” in their investigation.

However, if a criminal case develops, then Animal Services will work with the court to get any healthy cats released for adoption.

In the meantime, DeSousa said the County’s shelters in Carlsbad and San Diego have room for the cats and the means to care of them.

It remains to be seen how many of them have treatable illnesses, but DeSousa said the public doesn’t need to worry that the cats are condemned because of their sheer numbers. County Animal Services does not euthanize adoptable and treatable animals.

“No healthy, adoptable animals will be euthanized because of this seizure,” he said.