'Deplorable' home: Waterford woman's 30 cats removed

A home in the 3000 block of Airport Road in Waterford Township has been condemned due to unsanitary conditions that township officials say are the result of 30 cats living at the house.

Officers were dispatched on Thursday, April 24 to the residence and spoke with the 59-year-old Taylor woman who reported the incident. The woman stated she had come to the house to purchase a particular breed of cat, a snow leopard, from the home’s resident, a 50-year-old woman.

Officers observed heaps of garbage, animal feces, flies, and numerous cats inside the residence through the home’s windows. A strong odor was reportedly emanated from inside the residence.

Contact was made with the resident by phone, who initially told police she wasn’t home. When the resident eventually came out to speak with officers, they could smell a strong odor of cat urine coming from her clothing, according to a Waterford Police Department press release.

Officers attempted to enter the residence to check on the welfare of the animals and any other people who may have been inside, but were forced to leave after being overcome by the smell of feces.

The Waterford Fire Department personnel responded and entered the house wearing HAZ-MAT suits and breathing through masks and air tanks. The police department release states that those entering the residence found the interior conditions “deplorable and uninhabitable,” as evidenced by, for example, an entire bathtub filled with cat excrement.

In addition, cat feces was “ankle deep throughout the residence,” the release states.

Oakland County Animal Control officers were also contacted and responded to rescue the roughly 30 cats found in the home. However, the cats couldn’t be removed at that time.

The resident was removed from the home.

Police and Oakland County Animal Control officials returned to the home on Friday, April 27 to remove the cats. The case has since been turned over to Oakland County Animal Control for prosecution and remains under investigation.