100 Dead Cats Found in Nonfunctioning Freezer
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS & Others
June 19, 2010
BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. (AP) -- Social services has removed three children from a home in Jackson County where 100 dead cats were found in a nonfunctioning freezer. Sheriff Duane Waldera said filthy conditions and feces from another 17 live cats caused deputies to determine the house was unlivable.
Gabriella Bernabei said authorities are targeting her and her boyfriend because of their Wiccan religious beliefs. Bernabei said the cats were kept in the garage freezer because she planned to bury them. She said she was properly storing the carcasses until she could get to the burials.
Some neighbors and onlookers said Bernabei was stark raving mad and should be flash frozen herself. One neighbor volunteered the use of his own freezer for Bernabei.
Sheriff Waldera nixed the idea and said it might be unconstitutional to flash freeze Bernabei.
A spokesperson for the Wiccan Church of Wisconsin said there was no law prohibiting the storage of one's own dead cats in a freezer. She said the dead cats were the property of Bernabei and had been illegally seized.
A spokesman for the local humane society said the society would volunteer to try to revive the dead cats and then find homes for them. Some of the cats may have been dead for as long as 3 years. "As most of you know," said the spokesman, "cats have 9 lives. We won't know until the cats are examined by a veterinarian how many lives each cat has used up. Some could be permanently dead."
A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Fish,Game and Domestic Cats said it is illegal to serve cats alcoholic beverages.
The live cats were taken to the Jackson County Animal Shelter. Animal control officer Barb Pfaff says some were too sick to save. "We gave them each a shot of bourbon and then euthenized them."
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Information from: WEAU-TV, http://www.weau.com and Jbo Private Wire Services, Inc.
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