82-year-old woman, daughter arrested after dead cats found in Fort Worth home
An 82-year-old woman and her 57-year-old daughter face animal cruelty charges after dead cats were found in their Fort Worth home, authorities said Thursday. Authorities said they could not estimate the number of dead animals because they were in different stages of decomposition.
Officials also seized 20 live cats and two dogs from the home in the 3100 block of Conejos Drive.
Marianne Thompson, 82, and Laura Robinson, 57, were booked into the Fort Worth Jail on Wednesday night on charges of cruelty to non-livestock animals.
The jail log lists 22 charges each for Robinson and Thompson.
The charge is a Class A misdemeanor, but it’s a state jail felony if someone has two prior misdemeanor convictions, according to the Texas Penal Code.
A relative tipped off authorities in February of the hoarding issue at the home which included numerous cats and dogs, officials said Thursday.
Arrest warrants were obtained for the women, and they were taken into custody Wednesday.
Armed with a search warrant, police, firefighters and animal control officers converged on the home and seized nine cats and two dogs.
Traps were set to catch the other cats and 11 more were captured.
“Some deceased cats were found in the home,” said City of Fort Worth spokeswoman Diane Covey on Thursday. “They face animal cruelty charges because the animals were not being cared for.”
The two dogs seized from the home were sent to a North Texas rescue group, while some of the 20 cats were adopted or given to local rescue groups, Covey said.
