Cattery Reviews

100 cats seized from CFA Hoarder/Breeder

Felony CTA
An 80-year-old Wittmann woman likely will be charged with felony animal abuse after Maricopa County sheriff's deputies found dozens of diseased and dying cats in her home.

Deputies responded to Lucienne Touboul's home near Grand Avenue and Center Street Thursday morning and found 104 cats in various stages of health.

According to sheriff's spokesman Jeff Sprong, Touboul threatened to kill deputies if they touched her animals.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the cats were blind or suffering ruptured corneas, had severe respiratory ailments and feline leukemia, and were literally dying in the arms of deputies. He said 10 cats were found frozen in the home refrigerator.

Arpaio said Touboul will likely face numerous felony animal abuse charges but is too old and frail to see the inside of a jail cell. He said he has asked his deputies to work with local agencies to provide her the help she needs, both physically and mentally.

63 cats taken from CFA Breeder's home, Angel Babies Cattery

Sixty-three cats and other animals have been removed from a Marion County home.

Marion County Animal Services say they removed the cats, along with an Amazon bird and a Golden Retriever dog that were living in poor conditions from a home on Thoroughbred Acres, Thursday.

The owner, 54-year-old Merry Wichman, bred and sold cats on the website, www.mainecooncat.com.

Animal services say many of the animals were housed in 5-by-4 foot chain link cages with nine to 17 cats inside each one.

Marion County Fire Rescue’s HazMat team tested the air quality inside the home and determined it unsafe to enter without a respirator. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office removed Wichman from her property via the Baker Act and into protective custody for a mental evaluation.

60 CFA Charlemaine Maine Coon cattery cats seized from Ruth Sonneville

Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2004 18:40:51 EST
Re: cattery raided, all cats confiscated
Last week, authorities entered the house and seized 60 Maine coon cats, many of them sickly and matted, along with 10 dogs. There were urine stains and feces all over the carpet, and signs of rats.

Neighbors say that, for months, Sonneville hadn't let them inside the two-story gray stucco house at the end of a dead-end street, that they said smelled increasingly like a barn. Sonneville, a breeder of Maine coon cats who markets them on the Internet, is now being investigated by police and prosecutors, while her animals face an uncertain fate in a shelter that finds itself overrun by cats. "We're in a position of bursting at the seams here," said Mimi Epstein, president of the SPCA of Westchester, sitting in a room filled with caged coons at the Ossining shelter.

"Obviously, she was not equipped to be able to handle this number of animals. Every single cat there wound up suffering in some regard because of neglect. This was just completely out of hand."

As authorities mull criminal charges, the county health department has cited her for rodent infestation. The town of Harrison is considering additional penalties, including zoning violations because such businesses are banned in residential zones, said code inforcement officer Edward DiBuono.

Nearly half the cats are pregnant, so the population could double in weeks, said Einstein, who is desperately trying to get them cleared for adoption.

She has been running a catery for several years out of her home, at 15 Underhill Place, doing business as the "Charlemaine Maine Coon Cattery." "The cats," said Einstein, "can fetch as much as $1,100." On her web site, which was recently taken down.

"I have been an animal lover from as far back as I can remember," she wrote. She also wrote that she ran 4-H clubs in the Harrison park, teaching children how to care for and show cows, sheep, chickens and other livestock. She said that she entered several in local shows and that her Maine coons have won national competitions. "There's this network all over the country," Einstein said. "These people all have Web sites and ship these cats all over to be bred and have kittens sold." A Web search reveals that dozens of US catteries use Charlemaine cats. Of the 42 cats at Einstein's shelter, 12 came from a Texas cattery that sent them to Sonneville to be cross-bred.

On March 23, an anonymous woman called the County Health Department to report that she noticed extreme odors in the Sonneville house, which she said was over- crowded with cats, a department phone log states. She bought one of the cats and told health officials that it made two of her other cats sick. Early last week, Harrison police visited the home as part of an unrelated investigation. Officers noticed sanitary problems and called the Health and Building departments to report their concerns, police Chief David Hall said. Police executed a search warrant eight days ago, showing up with authorities from the District Attorney's Office and Health Department, the Harrison Building Department and SPCA.

"The smell was enough to knock you over," said JoAnn Moore, one of the SPCA workers who entered the property and spent several hours documenting the conditions. Later, a Briarcliff Manor veterinarian examined 52 of the cats and reported most of them suffered medical problems, including respiratory, ear, and urinary tract infections, mites, skin conditions, gum disease and diarrhea. Some appeared underweight, and at least 18 were pregnant.

Joyce Nankervis a CFA household cat show exhibitor of N.J.

In March 31, 2004 a CFA household cat show exhibitor that use to beat her cats to death with an iron pipe &, burn them, starve them and throw them against the wall . Joyce Nankervis was very popular in CFA cat clubs and cat shows and known very well in CFA circles.

This case is the worst most severe animal abuse case we have ever come across on this site. This CFA cat show exhibitor abused these cats inside the body of the cats, that their body was so damaged by the neglect of starvation, and then on the outside of their body by throwing them against walls and beating them with iron pipes & burning them. If you have a weak constitution do not read the details of this case because its enought to make you vomit, its that bad.

April 25, 2011 - Info was given by one of the rescue groups that was involved with her case.

4/25/2011
She was taken to court 3 yrs in a row, as she kept violating her "deal" and getting more animals. I think her case kind of lost interest and I dont believe anyone has investigated her in a very long time. They were supposed to do unannounced visits several times a year but dont think they have. she is not supposed to have anymore cats,,,does she? It was a big rescue effort and people all over the east coast assisted by taking in the cats taken from her home.

She didn't have a breed,,she had primarily regular "house cats" who she would enter into cat fancy contests all over. I do not think she had a cattery name,,, she had a lot of cats, and a lot of cats with bowel and health issues.

Yeah the one good thing that happened is we got her banned from the cat shows which were her reason for the cats. I dont know why she hurt them but the ones we saw were in terrible shape and I can only guess what happened to all the others, but how can so many cats die in such a short time frame,,,I dont know. no she got no jail time, it was very lenient and she was allowed to keep one cat. I dont understand but it was beyond my control

to the best of my knowledge the public is allowed all that stuff. She was prosecuted by Stu Goldman, formerly of the monmouth county spca, he is the one who prosecuted her. She was taken to court in Belleville. Maybe call the court house for the info. She was taken to court 3 yrs in a row, as she kept violating her "deal" and getting more animals. I think her case kind of lost interest and I dont believe anyone has investigated her in a very long time. They were supposed to do unannounced visits several times a year but dont think they have. she is not supposed to have anymore cats,,,does she? yes i was involved, as was another rescue ..it was a big rescue effort and ppl all over the east coast assisted by taking in the cats taken from her home. curious if she has any animals..if she is breeding,,and what drew your interest to her>

She didn't have a breed,,she had primarily regular "house cats" who she would enter into cat fancy contests all over. I do not think she had a cattery name,,, she had a lot of cats, and a lot of cats with bowel and health issues.

rescues all over the east coast took in 1 or more of these animals since we didn't have the means to house them after their vetting. ppl=people...my abbreviation :o)

April 26, 2011
rescues all over the east coast took in 1 or more of these animals since we didn't have the means to house them after their vetting. ppl=people...my abbreviation :o)

Joyce. She didn't breed "purebreds" but she was a show buff and she most certainly brutalized and murdered countless animals. Her vet was on record in the court papers, not a good man at all.

April 27, 2011
Yes,correct,NO jail time, barely any fine,, was allowed to keep one cat. The following year she had 7 more cats, I pulled into her driveway stood on the hood of my car and looked into her window. I saw them, I called the prosecutor, she was back in court,,no jail time ,,,small fine, I got the cats 3rd year,,same thing. I got the cats. Somehow this was not working. Her house was, in my opinion, condemnable. The wood floors were about 4 inches thick with pee and poo. thruout the entire first floor ,,,there were cats in a flooded basement in cages. (about 3 inches of water, of sewage water) It was unlivable, she would eat in her car. and her bedroom was off limits to the cats, she slept on a matress,,,old,,gross,,no sheets.

I sadly no longer have the pictures. I am sure the court MUST. I honestly dont know who to contact there. We were kept very seperated from the case. Perhaps all along they knew they wouldn't do much to her and feared we would freak out.

newpapers, peta, radio, health department of her town, no one would even listen to us, give us advice, come see the house or anything. We were all on our own. The neighbors didn't even care. we went door to door they wouldn't listen to us. finally we just took matters into our own hands and took all 37 cats out of her house on our own. Stu Goldman, who was not from the area was the only one who would even touch this, I dont know why. but we were very frustrated. NO ONE wanted to know. So we took all the cats while she wasn't home. it was what we had to do.

I hope my article isnt too lengthy. I hope to be done soon. But can only write a little at a time with everything else going ont hat demands attention.

Svetlana Skyarova of Larix Cattery robbed 7 buyers of over $31,194.00

Svetlana Skyarova of Larix Cattery in Russia, robbed 7 buyers of over $31,194.00.

1. Breeder refused to refund monies to [7] known buyer's/breeder's
2. Any act or conduct seriously and patently detrimental to the best interest and welfare of the cat or CFA) GUILTY. Must pay $2,500.00 in fines.
7/26/11 Six month suspension of all CFA Services, $1,500 fine.

Suspension continues until restitution to the following is paid:
$2,160 to Dawn Wallen;
$3,680 to Cindy Forcher;
$4,474 to Stefano Andorlini;
$8,082.40 to Ronaldo Guerra;
and $3,500 to Renate Fichtner
$4,548 to Warheel Barhji and Wati Sulastri is paid [seperate complaint]
Owes Cruz Persians cattery in UK $4,850.00 [now for 4 years] Breeder owes total of $31,194.00

Authorities raided Robert Barrett of CFA Waxolotl Cattery prompted by medical call

September 6-7, 2011, 8:39:11 AM
The cattery Waxolotl Cattery breeds Turkish Angora pedigree cats, located on Yaphank, Long Island, NY.

Authorities Find 40 Cats In Yaphank Man’s Home Yesterday, | skschust YAPHANK, NY (WCBS 880) – An emergency medical call led authorities to a home with dozens of cats on Long Island. LISTEN: WCBS 880′s Sophia Hall reports Robert Barrett was irate and screaming after he said his wife fell and broke her hip inside their Yaphank home. But when authorities arrived, they stayed for hours after finding nearly 40 cats living inside the house. Barrett says he is a breeder but some of the cats will now likely be removed from his home. “We show them, we go to cat shows,” he said. “I feed them every day. I spend a great deal of money on cat food and veterinary care.” The SPCA would not comment but officers with the town said the cats are well fed but some need medical attention.

Robert Barrett recently claimed that he was not hoarding BUT breeding and showing 70 Turkish Angoras. Shelter officials disagree and were working with him after discovering his situation. 11/10/11

Piercing Gothic Cats Cat Breeder

We are not aware this cat breeder is registered with any major cat registry anywhere.

Crawford told the court that she had been off of heroin for five years and that mutilating tiny kittens had helped her to kick the habit. Regardless of the veracity of that declaration, Gartley was suitably impressed and readily concurred that such patently cruel and inhumane behavior was an acceptable tradeoff and therefore of no consequence.

Considering all the pain and suffering that she has inflicted upon kittens, it would have been far better if Crawford had stuck with her beloved heroin. By now perhaps she would have overdosed and society would be shed of both her and her despicable crimes.



This is an image of Holly Crawford walking out of court. You can read more about this cat breeder torturing kittens and attempting to sell them between $100-400 dollars.

New Zealand NZCF Pedigreed Cat Breeder David Balfour & wife

SPCA found 161 cats & 87 dogs because of mistreatment

David Balfour & his wife both New Zealand Cat Fancy cat breeder's. In addition both are charged with the cruelty & mistreatment of 161 cats & 87 dogs.

His cattery is named Buccaneer Cattery and a member of New Zealand Cat Fancy. David was also a dog breeder.

Listed below is the links for 7 pages of court testimony, proof of his cattery listing, & so much more about this entire animal cruelty case.

Authorities Raided Amazing Grace Catz Cattery Seized 35 Exotic's

This is an image of Sandra Norman of the Amazing Grace Catz Cattery in Advance, N.C.

Sandra Norman is also charged with:
1. [18] counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals
2. [1] Felony cruelty to animals
3. Misdemeanor child abuse because of the ammonia levels in house.

Sandra Norman stated she is friends with Marie Rice who breed Desert Lynx Cats. ALso she stated she is friends with Cecilla of "An Awesome Spot Cattery" located in Burlington, NC.

CFA Active Breeder
CFA Exhibitor
CFA Former Cat Club President
20 cats dead in home

Coastwind Cat Club

April 7, 2012 Feline tomb belonged to ex-club boss
By Amy Moore
The former owner of a foreclosed home where 20 cats were found dead Wednesday could face animal cruelty charges, authorities said Thursday. Karen Crooke, the former president of and publicist for the Coastwind Cat Club - which sponsors an annual cat show in Beaumont - is listed as the owner of the home on Sandelwood Trail where officers found about 20 dead cats in filthy kennels. Four cats were found alive in the home, which was littered with trash, empty cat food cans and feces. Two of the cats escaped as authorities and members of the city's HazMat team entered the home Wednesday afternoon.

Matthew Fortenberry of Beaumont Animal Services said a woman left her name and contact information at the police department about the cats Thursday, but he has not been able to get in touch with her to set up a meeting. Although Fortenberry was not sure of her identity, The Enterprise found her name in county records associated with the house. "We have to speak with the owner to see if something is wrong ... or if it was intentional that she left them there in that condition," Fortenberry said. What, if any, charges will be filed against Crooke will be determined by her answers, he added..."

The former owner of a foreclosed home where 20 cats were found dead Wednesday could face animal cruelty charges, authorities said Thursday. Karen Crooke, the former president of and publicist for the Coastwind Cat Club - which sponsors an annual cat show in Beaumont - is listed as the owner of the home on Sandelwood Trail where officers found about 20 dead cats in filthy kennels. Four cats were found alive in the home, which was littered with trash, empty cat food cans and feces. Two of the cats escaped as authorities and members of the city's HazMat team entered the home Wednesday afternoon. Matthew Fortenberry of Beaumont Animal Services said a woman left her name and contact information at the police department about the cats Thursday, but he has not been able to get in touch with her to set up a meeting. Although Fortenberry was not sure of her identity, The Enterprise found her name in county records associated with the house. "We have to speak with the owner to see if something is wrong ... or if it was intentional that she left them there in that condition," Fortenberry said. What, if any, charges will be filed against Crooke will be determined by her answers, he added.

Lisa Zalesky, a member of the cat club's board, could not say for sure if Crooke was still involved in the club and did not respond to The Enterprise's question about whether she had heard about the dead cats found in Crooke's former home. Fortenberry estimated that the cats had been dead at least two or three months, based on their decomposition. The four cats found alive "were lucky," he added. The two that were caught are at Animal Services but are not yet available for adoption. "They have been living in feces and we don't know if they have diseases," he said. "We have to have a hearing to determine if the owner has any rights to them still." Fortenberry said he was alerted about the cats by a potential buyer of the foreclosed home who heard cat sounds coming from the inside of the house during a visit. Officers received a warrant and went into the home Wednesday.

Fortenberry said the home still had electricity and running water and there was no indication outside that anything was amiss inside. Crooke has been quoted in a number of Enterprise articles through the years about the Coastwind Cat Show. In 2003, she told an Enterprise reporter that her cats "bring her a lot of pleasure."

According to previous coverage, Crooke competed in a number of cat shows in 2006 with her red silver mackerel tabby, Terrificats Creme Soda. The next year, she spoke with a reporter advancing Beaumont's annual cat show about how she enjoyed dressing up her cat, La Joya Negra. Crooke continued to represent the Coastwind Cat Club as publicist at least until 2009, according to Enterprise archives.
ARMoore@BeaumontEnterprise.com
Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Feline-tomb-belonged-to-ex-club-boss-3461774.php#ixzz1s2nB27F0

Betty Ann Ollinger Gould of Snow Bunnies Persians A 20 Year, CFA Show Exhibitor & Cat Breeder "Arrested"

by Kelsey Card
Published December 5, 2012 . SPRINGFIELD, Ore.
— After Betty Gould, a local CFA cat breeder & CFA show exhibitor, was accused of tossing two animals in the river, Springfield police are looking into other tips about similar dumping cases, with similar suspect descriptions.

“People that have found other Persians in the same area that this incident occurred,” said Brian Austin, Springfield Animal Control Officer. Springfield police are dealing with multiple calls and e-mails about cases similar to the one that happened last week, when Betty Gould allegedly threw two Persian cats into the Willamette River.

“We’ve also received calls from people that have given us descriptions similar to Ms. Gould and also to her vehicle, where they’ve seen cats dumped,” said Brian Austin, Springfield Animal Control Officer. This past summer someone found a grey Persian cat floating in the Willamette River, thought to be thrown in.

In another case three weeks ago, someone saw a kitten dropped from a car window in the middle of traffic. “Got her license plate number and we think that may have been Betty also,” said Erin Smith, Lifetime Tattoo Owner. Lifetime Tattoo Owner Erin Smith says a friend rescued that kitten. Smith says she knew Gould well, after running into several legal issues with her while they ran neighboring businesses.

“It’s illegal to have animals in a salon or a tattoo parlor so we know the laws really well, she was selling them out of her salon,” said Smith. Investigators say she raises the cats in her home. They searched the house and found more than 60 cats, half roaming and half in crates, Springfield Police say they are being adequately cared for. “We will be looking with the prosecutor to work out something for her to voluntarily surrender the cats.

Her attitude is what’s gonna either help this process through or completely stall it for a while,” said Brian Austin, Springfield Animal Control Officer. If Gould’s lawyer and the Springfield prosecutor come to an agreement, the cats could be taken out of her home very soon. The Humane Society and a Persian Cat rescue have offered their resources to help.

But, the cats could be left in Gould’s home and possibly under her care if she gets released from jail, until the case is resolved, which could take months. In regards to the recent case against Gould, a longtime rescuer will adopt the two Calico Persian cats who were thrown into the river. Springfield resident Marciann Yantz says she didn’t want to see the cats separated. She says she was appalled when she heard the story and wanted to give the cats a good home. “We all need to take an active role and make sure that the pets we love and the pets that aren’t loved are taken care of,” said Yantz. The cats are being treated for some of their health issues, including an eye infection and fleas; they’ll head to their new home Thursday.