Novel idea: cat faeces everywhere to deter burglars!

NEWS AND COMMENT: At her trial, this woman, a cat hoarder, stated that she kept her home in a complete mess with cat faeces everywhere including on armrests because she wanted to deter burglars.

Margaret Fakesch. Photo: Katie Pugh.

She wanted her home to be as smelly as possible to keep burglars at bay. I quite like that as an argument although it is complete fiction. She was very disagreeable at her trial and kept interrupting the clerk and the prosecution lawyer, it's reported (Daily Express).

She kept 12 cats at her filthy home. She refused to take the advice of veterinarians and didn't trust them. She thought she could heal her cats by placing her hands on them. Or she used homeopathic medicine. Some cats were ill with the usual upper respiratory infections.

Margaret Fakesch, 60, has been banned indefinitely from owning and looking after any animals and was fined £262. The RSPCA brought the prosecution. Officers found the home in the usual condition that investigators find the homes of cat hoarders, namely in a pitifully disgusting state with so much cat faeces on the floor that it was impossible to walk around the home. She lives in Hull, UK by the way.

RSPCA officers had attended the home earlier and offered advice to improve the situation. She barely responded. We are told that she made a small space among the clutter to allow her to walk down the corridor. When they revisited almost nothing had changed. She told RSPCA officers that she wanted her home to smell as bad as it could to deter anyone might break in to try and burgle her.

It's reported that a pile of used litter trays were found in stagnant water in the bathroom and a number of soiled adult nappies were littered around the house. It's just unbelievable. Sadly, we've heard it all before with cat hoarders.

This is the desperate last argument of a woman who I simply lost control and is trying to wriggle out of her responsibilities as a cat caregiver. I feel sorry for her because it's a mental health issue. She can't cope but she shouldn't be harming cats. If she can't care for cats properly she shouldn't be doing it. And to take such an offhand attitude towards veterinary advice is unforgivable when the cats suffer as a consequence.

I would expect her to ignore the court order banning her from keeping animals and to go back to her old ways. I would expect the RSPCA to have to visit her again in the future and the cycle will continue. The report does not tell us what happened to the animals. I presume that they were taken from her and rehomed via a animal rescue organisation. Let's hope so. But what caught my eye was the novel and ridiculous argument about deterring burglars.