Woman charged with cruelty, abandoning multiple cats
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Police say a woman is being charged after she was found abandoning cats, leaving them in deplorable conditions for three years.
According to the Scranton Police Department, on May 5 investigators were called to a home in the 1600 block of Sweeney Avenue for a report of abandoned cats.
On the scene, investigators said they began looking through the windows and saw a “disgusting amount of flies, larva and spiders, indicating that no one was living in this home.”
Police say they contacted the owner of the house, Mandy Widdick, 44, of Scranton, at a hotel she was living in with three cats that she was allegedly caring for.
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Widdick returned to the home with police and permitted them to search the area for cats however she explained to them that there was no way to gain access to the house, officers said.
Investigators then learned “the reason why the door was jammed, was due to a large pile of cat feces that had accumulated over the span of 3 years,” as stated in the affidavit.
According to court documents, investigators discovered two cats inside the house and 10 cats huddled up on a table in a shed on the property where feces was all over the floor, no fresh air, and very little food.
Widdick has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, neglect of animals, and cruelty to animals.
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