Authorities have arrested an Ames resident for allegedly hoarding and neglecting animals in what one veterinarian described as the worst conditions they had seen.
Jennifer Thompson, 42, was apprehended on Thursday, Feb. 1, for two counts of animal neglect and one count of animal neglect with injury after police officers found 27 cats living in her apartment in unsanitary conditions.
Ames Animal Shelter and Animal Control staff rescued the cats living in Thompson’s apartment on Dec. 13.
Property management alerted the Ames Police Department that the apartment on Tripp Street was full of garbage and animal waste. Police said they could hear animals inside the apartment, but nobody answered the door when they arrived.
Feces were found along the doorway’s threshold and flies were coming from under the door.
The 27 cats had access to only one litter box, according to court documents, while their food and water was placed in and around animal waste.
Excess animal waste covered much of the apartment along the floor and most of an uncovered mattress. Garbage was scattered throughout the home, and flies littered the apartment walls.