A woman is charged for allegedly raising her
6-year-old in a feline-fouled apartment

Wednesday, September 06, 2006
HOLLY DANKS
HILLSBORO -- A 36-year-old Beaverton woman was charged Tuesday with a felony that accuses her of raising her 6-year-old son in an apartment so overrun with cats that it was a danger to the boy.

Jennifer Megan Gaines, who had 31 cats in her Sterling Pointe apartment, was arraigned on one count each of first-degree criminal mistreatment, and first- and second-degree animal neglect.

After a neighbor reported a suspicious odor June 9, police and a state welfare caseworker arranged for Gaines' 6-year-old son and 17- year-old daughter to stay with their godmother.

"It was determined that it was unsafe for the children to spend another minute inside of the residence," Officer Ryan Potter wrote
in his report. "As soon as I entered the residence the odor was so overwhelming that I almost vomited."

Cat and dog hoarding typically generates headlines, and the public responded in this case with donations for food and medical care. But animal abuse is a misdemeanor, while criminal mistreatment of a person is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $125,000...

The cats, suffering from respiratory and eye infections, corneal ulcers, dehydration and fleas, were taken to the Bonnie L. Hays
Small Animal Shelter for evaluation. Some were placed into foster care pending forfeiture proceedings against Gaines; 24 animals, including 15 kittens born at the shelter, were euthanized. One cat had an injury that necessitated amputation of its tail.

"They came in and they were sick," said Susan Field, shelter spokeswoman. "We did a great deal of treatment, but some of them
just failed to thrive."

Gaines was booked into the Washington County Jail on Tuesday and was released on her own recognizance on the condition that she not contact her son. She also can't possess any animals or pets.

Police arrested Gaines on July 27 and a grand jury indicted her last week after authorities waited to see what happened to the cats. Field said most were euthanized Aug. 24.

After her release, Gaines said she did not want to comment until she talked to her newly appointed public defender. A Sterling Pointe spokeswoman said Gaines no longer lived there.

Gaines told police she had taken in three pregnant cats about eight months earlier; the cats had kittens and the kittens had kittens.

"I think she thought she was doing what was right for the animals," Field said. "Then it gets away from them."

Potter said it took only about a minute inside the apartment in the 14300 block of Southwest Teal Boulevard for his nose and throat to start burning.

"I did not feel it was safe for anyone to be in the residence without some kind of mask," he said.

Police said the cats were living mostly in the upstairs bedrooms and garage, while it appeared that Gaines and her children were sleeping on the living-room floor and couch.

Officer Mark Hyde, Beaverton police spokesman, said Gaines was charged with mistreatment of her son because he "had no options" and her daughter was old enough to leave the house and stay with friends.

Holly Danks: 503-221-4377; hollydanks@news.oregonian.com

http://tinyurl.com/pm5x7