SPCA finds a very unfunny animal house
PHILADELPHIA - March 17, 2008 The SPCA and the city converged on 2359 Harold Street, an unoccupied house that was holding stray cats and kittens, and removed the carcasses of six cats, putting them in plastic bags.
"We found a couple dead cats. One was hanging; it was stuck to a string or something," neighbor Betty Robinson said.
"There were two live ones, they ran right by us and right out the back door; that's where they are coming in and out, the back door is wide open," Darlene Sosa of the Pennsylvania SPCA said.
Sosa says that the cats probably come to the house for shelter because of the cold weather.
Weeks ago, a compassionate neighbor rescued three pregnant cats from the house. Those cats and their 16 kittens were handed over to animal control officers.
License and Inspections plastered a warning sticker on the house, citing structural problems.
Neighbors say past efforts to get the house's owner to correct problems went nowhere.
Owner Robert Braun was contacted by phone and said he was surprised to hear about any complaints, saying that when he visited a few weeks ago, the property was fine.
Neighbors fear without boarding up the house, stray cats will return as they have in the past
