34 cats found in home; charges filed

FAYETTEVILLE — A woman arrested after animal control officers found 34 cats and a dog inside her residence pleaded innocent to 35 animal cruelty charges in Washington County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Morgan MacDonald, 72, of 6770 Hahndo Road in Fayetteville, is charged with 18 counts of aggravated animal cruelty, all felonies, and 17 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. She was released from the county jail on her own recognizance after her arrest Feb. 15.

MacDonald deprived 17 cats and a dog of food, water, shelter and medical care, resulting in the felony aggravated animal cruelty charge, according to court records.

MacDonald was given a Sept. 20 court date before Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay.

The animal control service was contacted by a local veterinarian who said he had been treating cats for a woman, Ruth Francis, who lived at the Hahndo Road residence, according to a preliminary report from the county sheriff’s office. Francis had stopped having the animals treated, the vet said. The animal control officer learned Francis died in October and MacDonald was the sole beneficiary of her estate and was living at the residence.

The officers went to the residence and spoke with MacDonald, according to the report. She told them Francis had been running a feral cat rescue operation at the house and, after Francis died, she did not want to give up any of the cats “because it would have upset Ruth.”

MacDonald would not allow the officers into the house, so they obtained a search warrant and found 34 cats and one dog in the residence.

The officers caught and removed 33 of the cats and the dog, according to the report. One cat could not be caught, and live animal traps were left in the house overnight and the cat was captured the following morning.

The animals were taken to the Washington County Animal Shelter.

According to the report, 18 of the cats had upper respiratory infections and two of those also had feline immunodeficiency virus. The animals were also being treated for malnutrition and dehydration.