(Photo courtesy of WMUR)  A former Playboy Bunny and 1980s rock singer who was renting a home in Ossipee could face a dozen charges after police said they found her home filled with cats in poor condition.

  (Photo courtesy of dalebozzio.org)  Dale Bozzio was charged with animal cruelty after 12 cats found in her home had to be put down. Neighbors said they called police because they hadn't seen Bozzio around.  Police say Bozzio has pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and will be charged with nine more.

Neighbor Jacqui Wright said she saw the conditions inside the house, saying that some cats were alive, some were struggling and some were dead.  "I've had a couple days of really hard frustration and anger and hurt," Wright said.  She said the smell inside the house was intense.  Worse than the worst baby diaper," she said.

Bozzio is a former Playboy Bunny turned lead singer of the '80s rock band Missing Persons. Neighbors said they hadn't seen her visit the home for nearly a week, and when they walked inside, the found the cats and called police.

"There's no way it wasn't neglect with that many animals being dead in the house," Wright said.

Bozzio's lawyer, Dennis O'Connor, disagreed.  "A certain particular set of circumstances that were out of her control resulted in the situation that we have," he said.

O'Connor said Bozzio was away from home and she asked someone to care for the cats. That person never showed up, O'Connor said.  "She's an extremely kind person," he said. "She's a positive person. She's an animal rights advocate."

Her manager, Joe Nelson, said Bozzio had left the cats in the care of a friend. Nelson said Bozzio is a well-known animal lover. Her website has a link to the SPCA and says she has cats to give to good homes in the Boston/NH area.

Veterinarians at a humane society put down 12 cats because they feared the animals might be carrying a highly contagious form of leukemia if they didn't get proper treatment.

Bozzio posted bail on three animal cruel charges, and police said she could face more when she appears in court in December.

Update 2/26/09:  Bozzio's trial on 12 misdemeanors began Feb 23rd, with a neighbor describing a horrifying scene of dead cats strewn around the house, and live animals surrounded by filth. Bozzio, who fronted the 1980s band Missing Persons, says she left the cats in the care of a friend who never showed up. The trial will resume March 9.

Photo's of Bozzio's house used as state evidence in her trial - notice the accumulated feces throughout the home.

Photo's used as state evidence in Bozzio's trial - two cats were found dead in the home.

  State evidence photo - a cat bone whose meat had been eaten by the other cats.

Update 3/19/09:  Bozzio has been convicted of animal cruelty in Ossipee.

Police say 12 cats had to be put down after being found in Bozzio's home last year.

Bozzio had pleaded not guilty to several misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. She was convicted of one count last week. The judge wrote prosecutors' decision not to specifically identify each dead animal in the formal charges proved "fatal" for all but one charge.

The 54-year-old singer is expected to be sentenced next week in District Court for Southern Carroll County. She faces up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Bozzio fronted the 1980s band Missing Persons and performed with rocker Frank Zappa. She still tours and released a solo album this year.

Update 6/18/09:  Bozzio filed an 11th-hour appeal on May 27 to continue fighting charges that she abandoned more than a dozen filthy, flea-ridden felines in her rural Ossipee, New Hampshire, log home with no food or water for at least a week last fall.

In a 50-minute phone interview, Bozzio emotionally claimed the situation resulted from a hired caretaker's inability to check on the feral cats. The conditions quickly deteriorated — two cats (including one trapped in a cage) perished and others starved, while litter boxes overflowed with feces. Twelve more cats had to be euthanized.

"I don't want anyone to think I deliberately did harm," she stressed.

In March, a New Hampshire district judge declared Bozzio responsible because the neglect "had persisted for some time." On May 21, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail with 60 days deferred.

Her appeal means a jury will decide Bozzio's fate at Carroll County Superior Court in Ossipee sometime in late October. In the meantime, she'll face at least two small-claims suits from former landlords in nearby towns seeking $3500 in unpaid rent and money to repair damage caused by her cats.

Bozzio will go on tour with Missing Persons, playing a string of club dates in Southern California; an August 8 show in Londonderry, New Hampshire (the proceeds of which her manager promised to donate to the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals); and appearances on the Regeneration Tour — featuring other nostalgia acts like Berlin and Wang Chung — in Detroit, Toronto, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas.

Update 10/21/09:  Bozzio’s troubles continue in Southern California, where she faces eviction from her San Fernando Valley home over $4400 in missing rent payments.

Her current landlord, Marlon Polanco, is seeking $4400 in rent he says Bozzio failed to pay between August 1 and September 30. He claimed Bozzio has rented from him since July 15 and has paid only half a month’s rent and half a deposit.  “I’m paying my mortgage, plus my apartment, and it’s just a financial mess for me right now,” says Polanco, adding that Bozzio is not fighting the eviction.

In New Hampshire, Bozzio faces at least two civil suits from landlords suing for rent and damages caused by cats.

Her August 8 show at Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, New Hampshire — which was supposed to benefit the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — suffered low ticket sales and was canceled on August 5. A message sent to ticketholders by venue management claimed Bozzio could not play because of an injury, but also stated that the show would not be rescheduled.

According to Polanco, Bozzio is now keeping at least two dogs and three cats — four more pets than they agreed upon — and some of them appeared following a Bozzio trip to the Boston area. He claims she came back with an Enterprise rental van and, shortly after, cat cages popped up in the back yard and more felines were spotted around the residence.

“The cats are sleeping in the windows . . . I see the cats walking around my house,” he says. “She said she was only going to have one dog. I asked for a deposit, and she said, ‘No, you don’t need a deposit, it’s just one good little dog.’ ”

Polanco was assured by Bozzio’s friends that she was “a good tenant,” but after seeing photos of the damages to her cat-filled former West Ossipee residence, he says he’s worried about what lies inside behind the doors of his Reseda, California, rental.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is now issuing a five-day notice to vacate and, if necessary, will work with Polanco to forcibly remove Bozzio.

Update 11/16/09:  Missing Persons singer Dale Bozzio has been jailed in New Hampshire for animal cruelty. The former New Wave star -- who lent her quirky singing style to hits like 1982's 'Words' and 'Destination Unknown' -- was placed in an Ossipee jail after dropping her appeal of an animal cruelty conviction and surrendering to Carroll County officials.

  (Photo courtesy of The Spinner/Getty Images)  The charges stem from Bozzio's unsuccessful attempts to "save" feral and sick cats from the New Hampshire woods. However, while the singer toured during the fall of 2008, two cats were found dead and 12 were put down following an undeterminable period of neglect.

Bozzio was found guilty of one count of cruelty to animals in March 2009, and she was sentenced in May to 90 days in jail with 60 days deferred for two years. She was also ordered to serve 250 hours of community service and pay a $2700 euthanization bill.

With good behavior, Bozzio may serve as few as 20 days of the sentence.

Reference:

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