Cats found in filthy home put down

VALRICO - Eleven cats pulled out of a house in Valrico have all been euthanized, and agencies are investigating what led to the conditions inside the home.

Hillsborough County Animal Services went into the home Wednesday after getting complaints from neighbors.

Investigators found mountains of trash, five dead cats, and an elderly woman living in filth.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Children and Families are investigating the family.

The home was condemned Wednesday after Animal Services took out five dead cats and 11 other cats that were later deemed to sick to survive, and were put down.

Neighbors complained about the smell. Deana Hancock said she could smell it from her front yard.

"Horrific smells. Cat urine, feces. Dead stuff. Once in a while you'd catch a whiff that something's dead," she said.

Alice Santy, 74, lived there, until code enforcement condemned the house on Wednesday.

Dr. David Tolin said she is a classic example of a compulsive hoarder. He says it is a mental illness. Tolin is a psychiatrist from Connecticut, and was in town to train DCF workers on the issue of hoarding. He explained how they need to talk to these people, and how they can encourage them to seek treatment.

"The thrill is in the acquiring. Not in the use of those things. What happens is people who hoard get hung up on the need to acquire things. Once they've done that, the thrill wears off and they need to go acquire something else," Tolin explained.

Alice Santy's mental state is now in question. She was taken to the hospital to be evaluated, but she was released just hours later to her husband.

DCF officials says hoarding is a mental condition, but they say she might have enough wherewithal that she may be able to make her own decision.

"The issue we often have to deal with is, does this person have the capacity to decide how they want to live. It's not like a child where we can say this is dangerous, we're taking the child." Said Nick Cox.