Sheriff's deputies in Rock County, Wis., found 42 cats and kittens and one dog in a small apartment on April 17 after being called to a motel on West Highway 14 in Janesville.
Kimberly Schap, 33, who rents the motel apartment with her mother, Pamela Krick, 57, was ticketed for mistreatment of animals. Deputies say Schap told them that she and her mother had recently moved from a farm and brought the animals with them to save them from neglect at the hands of the farm owners.
The deputies responding to the scene said many of the cats seemed ill, and at least one was injured.
Most of the animals were taken to the Rock County Humane Society, and Schap and Krick signed over responsibility of 37 cats to the facility on April 18, according to humane care supervisor Jim Hurley. The women were allowed to keep four of the cats and the dog.
By assuming responsibility for the animals, the humane society can now care for the cats, put them up for adoption or euthanize them if necessary.
Posted: April 20, 2006, 5:00 a.m. EST