| |
Hoarding – 26 cats found in a hot pickup truck |
Bristol Township, PA |
July 18, 2006 |
| Hoarding – dozens of cats seized |
Morrisville, PA |
2001 |
Santino, age 45, has been living in a Chevy S-10 pickup truck with 26 cats. The truck was parked under a shade tree off Ashby Avenue. Residents complained about the truck being an eyesore. The police responded and found the heat stressed cats, panting, locked inside the truck. Santino rode up on his bike carrying a bag, just having visited Wal-Mart for cat food and batteries.
There was no water inside the filthy truck, jugs were found on top of the truck. Some of the cats were in crates. 9 were lying on tattered blankets in the cab of the truck, the rest in the truck bed. The temperature in the bed of the truck was 87 degrees. The cats were visibly heavily painting with their mouths open.
The cats were removed and turned over to the Bucks County SPCA. They will be available for adoption once Santino releases them. The truck was towed.
Santino, a homeless man, last known address was
Falls, PA. Santino's mother died last September, and in February
he was told to leave an apartment in which he had been keeping the 25 cats.
A hearing was held later on July 18th. District Judge
Santino
had been living in an apartment in Morrisville with his aged mother in 2001,
when the Bucks County SPCA seized dozens of cats there.
At that time, the agency neutered the cats and returned about 15 of them to
Santino.
Reference:
PhillyBurbs
Philly News