Cat Coalition of Western Maine helped trap and place several cats Aug. 15 from a house at 113 Seventh St. in Auburn. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
AUBURN — Police and animal welfare agents rescued 55 cats from a home at 113 Seventh St. on Thursday and charged a couple with cruelty to animals.
Police had been investigating conditions at the home since August when neighbors began complaining about hordes of cats and unhealthy conditions at the home.
Charged with cruelty to animals Thursday were Jeffrey Bartos, 40, and Miranda Loggans, 35. Both are banned from possessing any animals pending a court hearing in March. Police said further charges are possible.
The home was declared uninhabitable by city police and safety officials.
Investigators said that in addition to the 55 cats seized at the home, one cat was dead. The living animals were being treated medically and housed at various shelters across the state.
In August, neighbors had described dirty and dangerous conditions at the home with nearly three dozen cats living there.
“The place is beyond filthy,” one neighbor wrote, “a public disaster waiting to happen.”
At least one kitten was found dead by people who went to the home to investigate. Photos emerged of that cat, along with several others, some of which showed open sores and other health concerns.
In another image, a mother cat is seen nursing kittens on a bare floor in a room strewn with debris. Holes can be seen in unfinished walls and makeshift cat litter boxes are scattered throughout the house.
In other photos, clusters of cats could be seen gathered in dirty, cluttered rooms surrounded by garbage and debris, including discarded food.
Several neighbors reported that a couple had been occupying the house for more than a year and that the Department of Health and Human Services had been called in at one point.
“I’ve been ecstatic since I heard and saw the news,” one neighbor said after police cleared the home Thursday. “I am so happy for all those kitties.”
It was not known where Bartos and Loggans are living now that the Seventh Street home has been condemned.
For area shelters and animal rescue organizations, the developments in Auburn put further pressure on efforts to find shelter for stray and feral cats.
Also on Thursday, more than a dozen cats were brought to the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society after a similar situation was uncovered in Canton.
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