Howard County Animal Control has filed nine animal cruelty citations against an Elkridge woman after finding two dead cats in her freezer, as well as 28 live cats and a guinea pig elsewhere in the Keeton Road home.

County police officers responded to the home July 1 at the request of a neighbor, who told police the residents had not been seen for several days and there was an odor coming from the house.

In the house, police found 17 adult cats, 11 kittens and a guinea pig, as well as the two dead cats in the freezer, police said.

Caroline Harrison, 42, of the 8000 block of Keeton Road, was cited with nine counts of animal cruelty on July 8. Each of the civil counts carries a $100 fine, according to Deborah Baracco, administrator of Howard County Animal Control.

The animals were taken to a veterinarian for evaluation and 10 of the cats were kept for further observation. The county could return a small number of cats back to the home, but the rest will likely be put up for adoption, police said.

— Mike Santa Rita and Derek Simmonsen

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user comments (1)

user elkmain says...

I love this, they cite this lady for cruelty to animals, but they let the lady who murdered her child by leaving the child in the car all day completely off the hook!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh My God, what is the world coming to.

Posted 5:36 PM, 07.08.09 | Permalink