Home repair work leads to grisly discovery of neglected cats

A Lacey-area woman was in jail Thursday night after Animal Services seized 20 malnourished, dehydrated Persian cats that were being kept in cages at her residence, living in their own feces.

The cats' owner, Judith Lawson, 64, was arrested on suspicion of 20 counts of first-degree animal cruelty, each a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

"It's the worst thing I've ever seen," said Thurston County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Debra Eurich, who was near tears outside Lawson's home on Prairie Ridge Drive as Animal Services officials and veterinarians tended to the cats in the garage. "I'm having her arrested."

Animal-control officer Erika Quinn-Ellenbecker said the case was reported to her office Wednesday by people working on Lawson's home to repair water damage from a leaky faucet. Quinn-Ellenbecker said animal-control officers have found evidence that Lawson might have been breeding the cats.

Dr. Lisa Ankerstjerne of Hawks Prairie Veterinary Hospital said the cats all likely have upper-respiratory issues and lung problems from breathing the fumes from their urine and feces. The cats have worms, and many of the cats' pelts were coming off from the weight of their heavily matted fur — a condition that Animal Services officers said they had never seen to such a serious degree. "A lot of them have probably never been handled before in their lives," Ankerstjerne said.

A small number of the cats might have to be euthanized, she said. But Animal Services will try to find adoptive homes for the ones that can be nursed back to health.

"I wouldn't wish this on any animal," Ankerstjerne said. "No animal deserves to live like this."

Neighbors described Lawson as "very private" and said she never opens her garage or window blinds. There was no furniture in her home, and unwrapped syringes were on the floors.