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Hoarding 53 cats, 1 dog
Bethlehem, CT (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Dec 29, 2005
County: Litchfield
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Delores Toomey
» Rose Toomey
Case Updates: 5 update(s) available
Authorities checking the condition of a 98-year-old woman seized 53 cats and a dog from her home, which was later declared uninhabitable by health officials.
Five of the cats were found dead in a freezer, and 11 others had to be euthanized because of medical and behavioral conditions, said Wayne Kasacek, a regulation and inspection official with the state Department of Agriculture.
State police went to Rose Toomey's home on Main Street South on Dec. 29, 2005 after a relative called to ask them to check on her. Police said the home was littered with animal and human feces. Toomey's daughter, Delores Toomey, 64, also was living at the home.
The two women may be subject to animal cruelty charges, Kasacek said. The two women are in good health and are staying elsewhere, authorities said. Health officials say they cannot live in the home until it is cleaned.
Kasacek said it took five days for animal control officers to catch all the animals, which were hiding under furniture and living in walls and ceilings. Several cats were feral. Bethlehem firefighters had to wear hazardous material suits before venting the home because of the stench of animal and human feces, he said. The surviving animals are being examined by veterinarians, and official will try to put them up for adoption.
Case Updates
As part of the Torrington Area Health District's citation, Ms. Toomey was ordered to clean up her property, something officials contend she has not yet done. A lawsuit, filed on behalf of the town by attorney Michael Rybak last week in Litchfield Superior Court, argues that Ms. Toomey is unlikely to comply with the health district's demands, leaving the town with a persistent Connecticut Public Health Code violation on its hands.
"The premises, in their current condition, pose an immediate and continuing danger to the public health, neighboring homes and their occupants," the suit reads, citing the home as a "breeding ground for flies, mosquitoes, rodents and other feral animals so as to pose a risk to the health and safety of the neighbors and the public at large." The town is seeking to recoup the money it has expended on the home since January 2006 and all future costs it may incur when cleaning up the home.
Since January 2006, the town has expended $10,503.37 on the property. Bethlehem First Selectman Leo Bulvanoski said that the town was not trying to punish Ms. Toomey, who is no longer residing at the home. He said the town is merely trying to comply with the state's health code requirements. He noted that a foreclosure and public auction notice is currently posted in front of the home, but said he has no idea what will become of the property if it is sold. | Source: Cuonty Times - June 8, 2006
Update posted on Jun 29, 2006 - 9:30PM |
Delores Toomey, charged with keeping 60 cats and her 98-year-old mother in unsanitary living conditions, wants to avoid criminal prosecution in the case through a special probation program.
Toomey, 64, applied Thursday in Bantam Superior Court for an accelerated rehabilitation program which, if granted, could result in no public record of the charges.
Toomey's attorney John Gawrych and Assistant State's Attorney Cindy Palermo are scheduled to argue the application May 5.
Toomey, of 297 Main St. South, was arrested Feb. 23 by state police on one warrant charging her with 60 counts of cruelty to animals and another warrant charging cruelty to person.
The application was filed to resolve the animal charges and it is unknown if the state will proceed on the cruelty to person charge.
Toomey relinquished her ownership of 59 cats that were seized Jan. 6 on a warrant presented by state agriculture officials. Five of the cats were found dead in two freezers at Toomey's home. Eleven of the seized animals were euthanized because of medical and behavioral issues, said Wayne Kasacek, assistant director of the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection, of the state Department of Agriculture.
A German shepherd dog named Andrew was also taken from the house and kept at a kennel in Bethlehem.
Toomey's mother was living in the home with her daughter although the house had no running water, and urine and feces littered the floor and furniture. A portable potty was in the woman's bedroom and there were no functioning toilet or furnace, according to an arrest warrant prepared by Officer Ray Connors of the Department of Agriculture, Animal Control Division.
The cost of housing the animals is about $10,000, according to Assistant State's Attorney Cindy Palermo, but it is unlikely Toomey will be able to reimburse the state. Foreclosure proceedings on her home were filed against Toomey in November and the case is expected to conclude later this month. | Source: Register-Citizen - April 7, 2006
Update posted on Apr 7, 2006 - 12:19PM |
A Bethlehem woman charged with keeping her 60 cats and 98-year-old mother in horrible living conditions was arraigned in Bantam Superior Court.
Delores Toomey, 64, of 297 Main St. South, was arrested Feb. 23 by state police on one warrant charging her with 60 counts of cruelty to animals and on another warrant charging cruelty to person.
Toomey appeared in Bantam Superior Court and Judge Heidi Winslow continued her case to April 6.
The elderly woman was forced to walk through urine and feces through the home that saturated the carpets, floors, furniture and beds, and use a portable potty in her bedroom. There was no running water, functioning toilet or furnace, according to an arrest warrant prepared by Officer Ray Connors of the Department of Agriculture, Animal Control Division.
James Rokos, director of Torrington Area Health Department, declared the house a public nuisance. He said the putrid odor that permeated the house was the worst he experienced in 38 years, according to the arrest warrant.
On Jan. 6 state agriculture officials and local animal control officers seized a German shepherd dog and 59 cats from Toomey's house said Wayne Kasacek, assistant director of the Bureau of Regulation and Inspection, of the state Department of Agriculture. Five of the cats were found dead in two freezers.
The female cats suffered because they were unable to compete with the male cats for food, Connors said. Eleven of the cats were euthanized because of malnutrition, emaciation, infection and behavioral issues, Adoption did not come soon enough for some of the 16 cats held at the Watertown Animal Shelter, Connors said.
"Some of those who could not be placed were also euthanized," he said.
It wasn't the first time Toomey was in trouble for having too many animals, Connors said. Police checking a 911 hang up call in July 2003 thought it was strange that cats filled every window of the house. Toomey was told by Bethlehem Animal Control Officer Angela Bond to vaccinate the animals. Toomey failed to follow through and was issued an infraction for 24 counts of failing to vaccinate the animals for rabies in November 2003. Bond's report to social services that the elderly woman was living in unsanitary conditions resulted in Toomey surrendering 25 cats, four and five at a time, from March until May. Toomey was allowed to keep five cats, Connors said.
When Toomey answered the door for police on Dec. 29, 2005, Toomey seemed unconcerned that she was stepping in a pile of animal feces, according to the resident state trooper.
State Social Worker Kathy Tumyol picked up Rose Toomey from the house on Jan. 6, and when animal enforcement arrived, Toomey apologized to Connors that her house was such a mess. She signed an authorization, releasing the animals to Bond.
The entire floor was littered with animal waste and officers were forced to wear hazardous material suits and use breathing apparatus to remain within the house to retrieve the cats.
To gain entry, firefighters used shovels and pry bars to remove animal waste from doorways, officials said.
Animal waste covered the kitchen counters, was piled several inches on the stairs and tub, and in some rooms two feet deep on the floor. The sludge in the basement said smelled more like human waste, officials said, and the walls had more than four feet of black mold growing, officials said. | Source: The Register-Citizen - March 7, 2006
Update posted on Mar 16, 2006 - 1:02AM |
| Toomey was released on a non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in Bantam Superior Court on March 6. | Source: Register Citizen - Feb 24, 2006
Update posted on Mar 6, 2006 - 4:22AM |
A Connecticut woman has been charged with not only animal abuse but abuse to a person, after dozens of cats and a dog were seized from the home that she lives in with her elderly mother.
Police say the women were living in squalid conditions with animal feces found all over the home. It took police, fire, and health officials days to get all the animals out of the house, a house with no heat or running water.
State police were asked to check on the condition of Dorothy Toomey's 98-year-old mother and found the women living in squalid and dangerously unhealthy conditions.
Ray Connors of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture says animal waste was everywhere in the house.
"It was about two or two-and-a-half feet deep," says Connors. "Everything was covered in animal waste...every square inch of the house...every room."
Officers and firemen had to wear hazmat suits and respirators while trapping and removing animals from the residence.
"It took us 5 days...and on the final day we went in with the fire department and thermal imaging cameras to look for cats that were living within ceilings and walls of the house," said Brad Davis of the Davis Animal Hospital. "I've been here 22 years and this is probably the worst case I've seen."
Some of the cats had to be euthanized, but many were taken to area animal rescue agencies and put up for adoption.
Dorothy Toomey faces 59 counts of animal cruelty and one count of cruelty to persons because of the conditions her mother was found living in. | Source: WFSB - Feb 24, 2006
Update posted on Feb 24, 2006 - 8:54PM |
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