Beaufort woman faces 20 charges in animal cruelty case involving 19 cats and a turtle
A 51-year-old Beaufort woman has been arrested on 20 warrants after 19 cats and a turtle “in extremely poor health” were removed from her home earlier this month.
The warrants, “one per each affected cat and one for the injured turtle,” result from the woman violating a South Carolina law involving ill treatment of animals, according to a Beaufort Police Department news release.
The charges the woman faces are misdemeanors punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail. The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers do not typically name those charged with misdemeanor crimes unless they are in a position of authority or public trust.
On Friday afternoon, according to Capt. George Erdel, police spokesman, the woman turned herself in to police and was being processed.
Inside the home
The animals were taken from the woman’s home on Feb. 12 after Beaufort County Animal Services received numerous reports of possible abuse and notified the police department. When officers tried to talk with the woman at her home, they experienced an “overwhelming” odor of urine, ammonia, and rotting trash, according to previous reporting.
Inside the home, officers found some cats kept in rusting cages filled with fecal matter, roaches and fleas infested in the cats’ bedding, and numerous dead rats.
The cats couldn’t fully use their legs, and some were too weak to lift their heads. There were also signs of malnutrition and apparent ammonia burns.
A turtle was also found in the home, clinging to life with a broken shell in fetid bathtub water.
The home was “so unsanitary and unsafe” that the City of Beaufort declared it condemned, a previous release said.
Port Royal Veterinary Hospital was treating the animals.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 12:43 PM.
