The federal standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration state people should not be exposed to ammonia levels higher than 24 parts per million over the course of an 8-hour period.  Levels from the urine in James', age 47, home reached almost 40 parts per million on a meter placed in the basement.

Ammonia levels from urine inside James' home at 7 Dugway Rd were high enough to cause brain damage in humans and animals.

Following a search of the ranch-style home, the animals were placed in the custody of the NHSPCA in Stratham.

            (Photo's courtesy of the Eagle-Tribune)  James was selling cats over the internet, though she had no license to run such a business.

The animals showed various sings of neglect, mostly related to poor hygiene.

Newton police were made aware of the conditions by an investigator from the state Department of Health and Human Services who was at the residence investigating a separate matter filed by James' adult daughter.

James, told authorities she's a breeder of champion Maine coon cats.  James eventually agreed to surrender all of the animals.

James lives in the home with her adult daughter, who will not face animal cruelty charges.  Town officials also said James owes more than $100 for failure to register and vaccinate her dogs during the past 2 years.

Update 6/24/08:  3 of the cats were euthanized.  2 suffered from advanced stage FIV and the other had an infectious tumor in its ear canal.  20 of the cats have already been adopted and the rest are expected to be as soon as they are healthy enough.  Many of the cats were spayed or neutered and some transferred to other NH shelters because of space restrictions in the Stratham shelter.

Police Chief Larry Streeter said James will face at least 3 charges of animal cruelty - one for each animal that died.  The charges bring potentially up to 4 years in jail.

Update 7/1/08:  James will be arraigned in Plaistow District Court on September 8th.  The town's health officer ordered James to have her house commercially cleaned.  The home will be reinspected.

The town's code enforcement department might fine James for not having a valid license to breed/sell cats.

Update 1/8/09:  James was found guilty of animal cruelty charges in Plaistow District court and was ordered not to have animals for the next two years, with the exception of the two cats she already has. She was also ordered to do no breeding, selling or giving cats away and is required to have home inspections every other month.  She was given a suspended fine of $2,000 and will be on probation for the next two years.

Reference:

The Eagle-Tribune

The Laconia Citizen

The Union Leader