A French couple that kept numerous animals in inhumane conditions received a one-year suspended sentence. The Nice-based couple had an 80 square meter (861 square foot) apartment with 159 cats and seven dogs.
Last year, animals living in filth, many of them malnourished, dehydrated, or parasite-infected, were found. When authorities broke up a fight at the couple’s apartment last year, they found that each room contained numerous animals. Animal waste was reported by the authorities everywhere. The pair had not given the animals the proper care, according to the judge.
The 68-year-old woman and the 52-year-old man were also given an indefinite prohibition on owning pets. They were sentenced to pay civil parties and animal rights charity in excess of €150,000 (£128,000).
Due to their terrible health, some of the dogs and cats later passed away. In a restroom, investigators discovered the carcasses of two dogs and at least two cats.
The apartment’s owner testified in court that although the animals were “the love of her life,” she had “screwed up.” She claimed that she would have felt like an “abandoned person for abandoning [the animals].”
It appears that in 2018, she moved in with her parents’ three dogs and three cats before taking about thirty cats from an abandoned building to her apartment. After that, these creatures had reproduced.
Her condition was identified as “Noah’s syndrome” by a psychiatrist, which is characterized by a psychological need to save animals even when one is unable to do so.
