By KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
WOODBRIDGE — A dozen or so summonses are expected to be levied against a couple, whose Iselin apartment was found to have over 100 cats living and/or deceased inside, according to Matt Stanton, spokesperson for the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA).
In the days after Woodbridge Animal Control responded to a complaint on June 28 of cats being housed in an apartment in the Harrowsgate Apartment complex, Animal Control along with the NJSPCA, Middlesex County Hazardous Materials Unit, Woodbridge Health Department and the Woodbridge Police Department started clearing out the apartment in what Woodbridge health inspectors reported was in “inhumane conditions due to the accumulation of debris, urine and animal feces,” according to John Hagerty, communications director for Woodbridge Township.
Over the past week many cats were removed, and Animal Control planted Havahart traps to catch the remaining ones. As of July 1, 40 live cats and 12 dead cats were removed from the apartment, officials said.
“There are at least 100 cats in the condo,” said Stanton noting that the apartment was trashed and cats had been hiding.
Stanton said the owner of the apartment allegedly was bankrupt and the apartment was being foreclosed.
Hagerty said the Woodbridge Department of Health declared the property a health/safety/welfare issue due to the large amount and heavy smell of urine, feces and dead animals throughout the apartment.
“The cats are being housed in the Woodbridge Animal Shelter,” said Hagerty. “The investigation is ongoing.”
