A French couple was sentenced to one year in prison on probation and a permanent pet ban after over 100 dehydrated and malnourished cats and dogs were found in their apartment.
The 68-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man were also asked to pay more than £129,000 (Rs 1.35 Crore) in damages to animal welfare associations. A total of 159 cats and seven dogs were recovered from the couple’s 80-square-metre apartment in Nice, France.
Police officers found the apartment in 2023 after a call about a neighbourhood dispute under unhygienic conditions full of pets. In the rooms, there were dozens of dehydrated and malnourished cats and dogs covered by parasites and wounds, as well as carcasses of dead animals.
At least two cats and two puppies were found dead by the investigators in a bathroom. The couple is “guilty of the offence of suspension, given the very poor health” of all domestic cats and dogs, the Nice Criminal Court ruled on Wednesday, according to AFP.
At the end of the trial, the woman fought for custody of the animals and said, “It’s like telling a woman that she won’t have any more children.” Who would not appeal against such an injustice? They were the loves of my life, but things got out of hand,” she said in court and explained that she did not intend to “give up”.
The woman claimed that the condition of her animals and the apartment was temporary. The BBC reported that during a psychiatric examination, she was diagnosed with “Noah’s syndrome” – a disease that goes with animal hoarding, in which a person feels the urge to keep a larger than usual number of animals, even if he is not able to provide them with hygienic and humane conditions for their maintenance. The couple is also investigating from 2014, in which it housed 13 cats and a dog in an 18-square-metre studio. In 2023, the woman and her partner had rental debts of £6,855 (Rs 7.20 lakh) and an eviction procedure was pending.
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