34 cats, 4 dogs seized - 17 dead, cannibalised-4 day jury trial to begin feb 19

Incident Date: Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007
» Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008: four-day jury trial for Cynthia Neu

A malnourished cat rescued from a Marquette Street home where several abused animals were found this morning escaped from a crate, jumped out of a parked Humane Society van into the snow and died.

“He was dead when he hit the snow,” said Fond du Lac Humane Society President Rob Post. The cat was so malnourished its legs were about the diameter of a pencil.

Several cats and at least one dog were found dead at 253 Marquette St., said Humane Society Shelter Manager Lucy Mathers. She said the dead dog was found in the basement and it appeared that other animals had been eating it.

There was no water for the pets and feces littered the residence, Mathers said. Dead and nearly-dead animals were found throughout the home, she said.

“The stench is unbearable,” Mathers noted.

Fond du Lac Police Department responded to the residence at 9:43 a.m., said Lt. Pat McKeough.

“It’s a pretty deplorable situation,” he said.

Police declined to release the woman tenant’s name at this time. The owner of the building told The Reporter the woman has occupied the home since October.

Humane Society employees were still pulling animals from the residence around 11:30 a.m. and planned to be working throughout the day at the house.

Fond du Lac police officers and a detective were on scene around 12:30 p.m. gathering information, McKeough said.

The last serious case of animal neglect in the city occurred in fall 2005 and involved several dozen dead and nearly dead cats in a Bank Street home. Some of them appeared to be eaten by other cats, according to the criminal complaint.

Merici Habib of Fond du Lac was sentenced to five years probation for 10 misdemeanor counts of mistreatment of animals in connection with that case.