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Animal Services raids home

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By KATIE CORONADO

kcoronado@wfla.com

Published: July 1, 2009

VALRICO - The complaints about all the cats came in for years.

On June 24, Hillsborough County Animal Services finally served a search warrant at a Valrico home, finding eight dead cats and at least 11 more living in what investigators described as deplorable conditions.

By the end of the day, investigators had to euthanize all 11 cats because they suffered from a variety of illnesses, animal services spokeswoman Marti Ryan said.
Investigators found resident Alice Santis, 74, at the home on Crowned Eagle Court, and took her to a hospital.

As an ambulance took Santis away, investigators said, they found the cats in the house filled with feces, urine and mold.

"The entire house had excessive feces, wall to wall," animal services supervisor Pam Perry said. "We found a cat in the kitchen with massive eye problems."

At least 20 more cats from the property were thought to be roaming the neighborhood, Perry said.

Animal services officials said they had received anonymous complaints about the property since 2006 but just recently obtained enough cooperation from neighbors to serve the warrants.

No charges had been filed, Perry said.

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