An elderly mail carrier in Stuart, Florida, was arrested July 20 in an animal hoarding case that has shocked the community.
The suspect was identified as 77-year-old Gail Giustino, who had allegedly been trapping cats she found on her mail route and taking them home, Fox News reported Saturday.
Officials located more than 100 animals locked in cages inside her house, which had no air conditioning or ventilation and was extremely hot due to the summer temperatures.
Crews wearing hazmat suits removed cages containing cats and small dogs. Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said there was about a foot of animal poop in some areas of the residence, Fox News Digital reported:
Some of the caged cats were held fast in feces that had hardened like concrete. Staffers had to smash bricks of feces from around the cats’ legs to allow them to move, Sarah Fisher, spokeswoman for the Humane Society of Treasure Coast, told Fox News Digital.
“When we cracked the door…the stench was unreal,” Budensiek said. “The air was stifling hot.” He went on to say, “She never walks the pets. She never brings them outside of the house. They’ve been confined to that animal jail really for however long she’s been hoarding these pets.”
The sheriff also said it was the “worst animal hoarding case” he ever saw, noting his officers received a complaint a few weeks ago about the suspect, who had been accused of taking the cats while she was delivering mail, WWSB reported July 22.
The sheriff added that animal control officers tried to work with the elderly woman on the issue but she refused to cooperate with them. They eventually obtained a search warrant and were shocked when entering the home where the smell was only one of the terrible conditions they found.
Video footage showed officials removing the animals:
ABC 7 cited court records stating Giustino had been issued more than 40 citations in 2015 for improper care or treatment of animals, but that case was eventually dismissed.
Budensiek explained the suspect could have been charged with up to 160 counts of animal cruelty. However, she was charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty and one misdemeanor count of confinement of animals without sufficient exercise before authorities released her on a $50,000 bond.
He said he thinks the woman believed she was doing the right thing but not going about it in the right way, noting the purpose of her arrest was to rescue the animals.
Now, humane society workers are caring for the creatures as they recover and have been working to reunite pets with their owners.
A woman named Linh Nguyen was reunited with her beloved cat, Patchy, who disappeared from her yard in January.
Nguyen had asked God to help her find her pet.
“If You do a miracle and bring my cat home. I will tell everyone it is You,” she said. Her prayers were answered when she heard about the situation and found Patchy at the Humane Society.
“This is a pure miracle,” she stated, noting that when Patchy spotted her, he meowed loudly.
Budensiek said officials hope to get Giustino the help she needs to avoid that kind of thing happening again.
According to the ASPCA’s (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) website, the issue of animal hoarding involves a person’s mental health, animal welfare, and public safety.
“Animal hoarding is defined by an inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care—often resulting in over-breeding of animals, animal starvation, illness and even death,” the site reads. “In some cases, guardians believe they are helping their animals and deny this inability to provide minimum care.”