Holy Cats - Woman Charged With Animal Cruelty for 750+ Cats

[impqueen]

FRAZER TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Humane Society agents raided a Frazer Township farm Thursday night and discovered 750 to 800 cats on the grounds, many sick or dead, a veterinarian said.

At least a dozen cats at the Tiger Ranch on Miller Drive had to be euthanized, and as many as 400 had to be medicated due to highly contagious diseases, according to humane officers.

"They can't breathe, they can't see, there's blood on the side of a trailer from them bleeding out of their mouths," said Howard Nelson, of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty, which was called to help run the operation.

Authorities said they are continuing to remove animals -- including dogs, horses and chickens -- from the compound on Friday."It's been a hard couple of days," said a choked-up Nelson. "We haven't slept. We were here all night. It's hard, but how can you not do it when the cats are suffering?"

Owner Lin Marie, 45, also known as Linda M. Bruno, was arrested during the raid. Police said she faces at least a dozen charges of animal cruelty and is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.

Neighbors said they've not been able to get local officials involved, so the raid, with a search warrant from the district attorney's office, was conducted by the PSPAC and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"We're triaging, so the ones that are sickest, we're examining on site," said the ASPCA's Dr. Rob Reisman. "Some of them are receiving medical treatment on site."

Link: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...66/detail.html

[JenJen1995]

Neighbors said they've not been able to get local officials involved

WTH???

Sounds like some good old boy crap you'd find down here in GA! eg,,"Yall leave that there woman alone- al she has is them animals and we ain't gonna go telling noboddy they can't have animals on a farm, ya hear???"

That, or she is related to someone that could have pinched a few "career strings" off if they tried to do an investigation!

[DogMom]

Ah this has been a hot one. This is about Tiger Ranch. The raid and charges against her has divided the animal rescue and animal advocates community. She has many supporters, AND many critics.

The latest - her trial is *supposed* to start on July 13th, 2009 (originally scheduled January 20, 2009).

This is the support web site: http://www.defendtigerranch.org/

There is also a wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Ranch_Cat_Sanctuary

[Castille]

I don't know what the precise details of this case are, but I'm generally supportive of leaving feral cat populations in place, while controlling them with spay/neuter programs. It sounds as though this involves a feral cat population at the least. And they come with any number of health problems and contagious disease which run their natural course.

But rather than a stable population, this sounds like a place where animals were continually added. I think this makes it much more of a potential disaster in terms of infectious disease, with the crowding and constant influx of new cats. And I think she's got to be responsible for that element of it, no? While I agree with leaving cats feral where there's space to do so rather than trapping in order to kill them - there's a point in the best interest and health of cats already in a feral cat colony where you just can't keep adding more. They have to go elsewhere - or be put down - lest you endanger too many of the others already living in a given location.

[canadian girl]

I am a registered breeeder of American Curl cats they are registered and shown in both CFA and TICA. As a breeder I have a responsability to make sure that a female cat is over one year of age for breeding and has only 2 litters per year.

It is also my responsability to make sure that the homes my cats are sold to are appropriate and that the new owners sign a contract stating they will take proper care of the cat and that if they cannot, the cat comes back to me.

The last thing I want to hear is that one of my cats ended up in a shelter or worse (laboratory, dead, pet store, etc.)

I believe that in this case that the woman started out with good intentions, but it quickly became too much for her to handle.

I am glad that there are people out there who care for animals and want to save them, I just hope that for others out there who have shelter or want to start one that they plan it out carefully so that situations like this don't ever happen again.

[DogMom]

Woman who had hundreds of cats pleads guilty to cruelty

The owner of a Frazer cat shelter where authorities found hundreds of neglected felines last year pleaded guilty today to animal cruelty and tampering with public records.

Linda M. Bruno, 47, whose legal name is Lin Marie, was arrested in March 2008 after a raid on the Tiger Ranch found close to 400 cats still alive and 106 dead, many stuffed into freezers.

She pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts and is scheduled to be sentenced by Allegheny County Judge Jill E. Rangos Oct. 5, when Assistant District Attorney Deborah Jugan said she will argue for jail time. Each of the 14 counts carries a maximum of two years in jail.

Ms. Bruno, as part of the plea agreement, is ordered to pay $200,000 to the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to reimburse for their care of the cats.

Veterinarian Becky Morrow said about 250 of the cats are still alive in a shelter in Clarion, but none has been adopted yet because they are still considered evidence in the case.

The tampering charges came from Ms. Bruno's forging the signature of veterinarian James R. Davidson on documents saying her cats had been vaccinated for rabies.

Dr. Davidson, speaking after the hearing, called Ms. Bruno "a good woman." Tiger Ranch was a no-kill shelter, and Ms. Bruno did not believe in euthanizing sick animals.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09194/983642-100.stm

[myra manes]

Neighbors said they've not been able to get local officials involved

WTH???

Sounds like some good old boy crap you'd find down here in GA! eg,,"Yall leave that there woman alone- al she has is them animals and we ain't gonna go telling noboddy they can't have animals on a farm, ya hear???"

That, or she is related to someone that could have pinched a few "career strings" off if they tried to do an investigation!

Glad I caught your post ..

I was thinking the same thing ..
WTF????

[Valasca]

What, no pics?

[DogMom]

Woman gets 27 years' probation for animal cruelty

A Western Pennsylvania woman has been sentenced to two years of house arrest and 27 years' probation, and must pay $200,000 restitution, after pleading guilty to animal cruelty in the mistreatment and deaths of hundreds of cats at her rescue facility.

Linda Bruno, 47, of Tarentum, was sentenced by an Allegheny County Court judge yesterday after pleading guilty to 12 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges and two other counts of tampering with evidence. Prosecutors withdrew more than 500 other charges based on the 600 dead, dying, and diseased cats found on her property.

Under terms of the sentencing, Bruno must undergo extensive psychiatric treatment and may not have contact with animals for 27 years.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pe...l_cruelty.html

[cubby]

Bravo!!

Bet she's got at least one cat now!! Cause you know she ain't gonna stop!!

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Bet she's got at least one cat now!! Cause you know she ain't gonna stop!!

Nope. A horse.

<--- That's Lin Marie, formerly known as Linda Bruno, not the horse. You know what a horse looks like.

The former owner of a defunct Frazer cat sanctuary must sell her interests in a horse-breeding business and no longer can shop at Victoria's Secret while she's on house arrest, an Allegheny County judge ordered today.

Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos chastised Lin Marie, 47, during a three-hour court hearing over allegations she is violating the terms of her sentence stemming from the running of Tiger Ranch, where hundreds of cats were housed in filth and disease.

Rangos said Marie — formerly known as Linda Bruno — failed to sell the horses despite a no-contact order with animals.

"Does anybody smell a fish in the horse manure?" Rangos asked.
[...]

Assistant District Attorney Deb Jugan told Rangos that Marie shops at Victoria's Secret, Macy's and Lowe's while she's on house arrest. Additionally, Jugan said Marie owns a horse that is stabled in Maine that she sent for breeding. Jugan contends Marie's mare gave birth to two colts. Those facts are violations of her no contact order with animals, Jugan said.

Defense attorney Matthew Collins said Marie is selling the horses and that she had permission from her probation officer during her shopping trips.

Rangos scheduled a hearing for May 28 when she could decide to put Marie in jail.

Additionally, Marie failed to get an evaluation by a licensed psychiatrist, dissolve the Tiger Ranch corporation, make restitution payments, and has not kept up with house arrest fees all of which are conditions of her sentence, according to a filing by her probation officer.

The filing indicates Marie retained a lawyer to help dissolve Tiger Ranch but the dissolution has been hung up with paperwork issues.
[...]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_671930.html

Though Judge Rangos took no action against Ms. Marie, she did give her a litany of items for which she must provide written verification before an official probation revocation hearing on May 28.

If there are continuing violations at that point, the judge said she might as well put her in jail.

"We will resentence you as if we never sentenced you."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10075/1043243-100.stm

Undercover video of dead and dying cats at Tiger Ranch several days before a PSPCA raid on March 13, 2008
Video: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...707/index.html

[Abroad]

What are "house arrest fees"?






As for:

You know what a horse looks like.

[Abroad]

Had a thought: Maybe she is dyslexic and thought that she was to have no contact with her house for 27 years. This would simultaneously explain her not giving up the horse and her AWOL shopping.

Or maybe not.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

What are "house arrest fees"?

According to the second article, they are charging her $21 a day to cover the cost of electronic monitoring.

Although, if she's monitored, how did she go shopping? Maybe they turned it off for non-payment

[DogMom]

I would love to be in a courtroom and hear a judge order someone to STOP shopping at Victoria's Secrets.

[TwiztidAngel]

i am just wanting to know how big her house was...how did she fix 750+ cats in there?...was she training them to be like those clowns that get out a tiny car or something?

[LadyCygnet]

I was having all sorts of crazy thoughts about her shopping for gear for her horse at VS, but then I re-read the sentence and realized she was probably shopping for herself.

[DogMom]

Tiger Ranch owner gets new orders but no jail More restitution, new restrictions

Lin Marie, convicted of cruelty to animals after a raid on her Frazer cat shelter two years ago, will not be sent to jail for failing to meet the terms of her probation, but a judge on Wednesday restricted her travel, ordered her to make more restitution and gave her a stern warning.

The warning and the new restrictions came at a hearing that was scheduled after the district attorney's office told the judge that Ms. Marie, formerly known as Linda Bruno, had failed to meet a number of conditions of her probation.

In January, Judge Jill A. Rangos sentenced Ms. Marie to two years of house arrest and 27 years of probation for charges of animal cruelty and tampering with records after investigators discovered hundreds of cats buried in mass graves. She also was ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution to the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and $21 per day for electronic monitoring fees.

But at a hearing in March, Assistant District Attorney Deborah Jugan told the court Ms. Marie had failed to pay restitution and probation fees, traveled outside the county without permission and still operated the Tiger Ranch website.

Though Ms. Marie had since begun paying $1,200 per month toward those penalties and taken down the Tiger Ranch website, Ms. Jugan argued she still was not adhering to the travel restrictions of her house arrest. She said that Ms. Marie made purchases from places like Victoria's Secret and the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills. Ms. Marie can only travel for necessary errands, work and therapy appointments.

Though the judge determined that not all of Ms. Marie's stated monthly expenses were accurate, Ms. Jugan's evidence -- documented in a 1-inch thick book of financial statements -- was not enough to persuade Judge Rangos to order Ms. Marie to jail.

But Judge Rangos did order Ms. Marie, 48, to increase her monthly payments by $169 and also restricted the time she is allowed to travel for appointments and other outings.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10169/1066536-54.stm

[cubby]

she must be independently wealthy to pay all the fees, fines and restituion that she's ordered to pay and stay at homw too.

tho i think she needs to be in jail cause it sure seems she's not really paying attention to the judge, just doing what she wants to do whenever she feels like doing it.

and really what is victoia secret underwear gonna do for her?

[redsaid]

OK, did the judge not see that video???? ooooooo i wanna.... I don't care WHAT her intentions were, those cats were in horrible condition. She should be in jail rottin' herself! Lord and Lady I don't understand why it is hardly a crime to abuse animals. THEY ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT!!

[ImmortalOne]

My mother and her fellow postal workers have a feral cat situation at their office. They capture the cats and use bottle returns to get them fixed at a local vet, rehome any kittens found, and release the fixed adults. There is only so much that can be done. These lady was obviously well out of her league and abilities to care for these cats.