Cat hoarding habit results in 10 year disqualification

An Auckland woman has been sentenced today in the Auckland District court following a case involving 50 cats living in disgusting conditions, with 22 of these cats in need of veterinary treatment.

Tatyana Kondratyeva, aged 51 and unemployed, was found guilty of failing to ensure the physical, health and behavioural needs of 50 cats were met and failing to ensure 22 ill cats received treatment to alleviate the unnecessary pain or distress they were suffering and sadly not all of them were able to be saved.

She has been disqualified from owning all animals for 10 years, is required to forfeit all 50 cats to SPCA Auckland and has been ordered to carry out 125 hours of community work with supervision for 12 months, including attending counselling or courses as determined by the probation service.

This brings to close a case that began in 2010, when two SPCA Auckland Inspectors visited a two-bedroom Glenfield house following a Police tip-off where 19 cats were discovered, with a number suffering from serious eye complaints, infections and other serious conditions associated with ill treatment. Inspectors found litter trays overflowing and faeces covering the floor and shelving units.

“According to our Inspectors, the stench was indescribable,” says Bob Kerridge, Executive Director, SPCA Auckland. “These cats were living in intolerably disgusting and unhealthy conditions requiring immediate action to improve their circumstances. Many needed urgent veterinary care and sadly not all of them were able to be saved.

“This is one of the most harrowing and foul cases of animal neglect on a massive scale that we have encountered,” says Mr Kerridge. “I would like to pay tribute to our dedicated Inspectors who had to deal with some very distressing conditions that went well beyond the call of duty.”

Ms Kondratyeva claimed she was responsible for the daily care of all cats on the property, owned by Donald Cruickshank, who was earlier this year convicted on the same charges relating to these cats, along with 38 dead cats discovered in the kitchen fridge and freezer.

An outdoor caged area was discovered, as well as another above a stairwell covered in cat faeces and urine that led to a locked downstairs unit. On entering the unit the Inspectors and Police were confronted by a swarm of flies and strong ammonia fumes, making breathing difficult and causing their eyes to water. They found a further 23 cats imprisoned in the one-bedroom downstairs unit, which was littered with faeces and urine.

Following the completion of the search SPCA Auckland made the decision to remove 50 live cats from the property due to the filthy and uninhabitable living conditions and their ill health, which required veterinary treatment. When asked whether the defendant would surrender the cats into the permanent care of SPCA Auckland, Ms Kondratyeva declined.

Subsequently, when interviewed by SPCA Auckland, the defendant admitted to an Inspector that she had let things get out of control and agreed the cats were living in filthy conditions, that some had health issues and that the welfare of the cats had been severely compromised.

ENDS

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