CONCORD TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- A woman faces a felony animal cruelty charge after sheriff deputies say she left three kittens inside a her car at a church.

A 32-year-old homeless woman is charged with three fifth-degree felony counts of animal cruelty. She will be arraigned on the charges on Monday.

The tabby kittens are about two or three months old, deputies said. They were treated at the Lake County Hospital in Painesville. Two are expected to recover and a third is in critical condition, deputies said.

The woman told police she is homeless and struggling to provide for herself and the kittens. She went to the church seeking charity, deputies said. She told investigators she didn't know left the kittens in danger when she left them in the car.

Someone called Lake County Sheriff deputies about noon Friday and said they saw three kittens in distress in a Kia Spectra parked at St. Gabriel Church on Johnnycake Ridge Road.

It was 82 degrees at the time and the inside of the car was "extremely hot," deputies said. Deputies found the kittens in direct sunlight in a cage on the passenger seat of the car. The windows were rolled up and no one was in the car, deputies said.

The three kittens were suffering seizures, foaming at the mouth and twitching uncontrollably, deputies said.

The deputies broke into the car in order to help the kittens. Deputies used bottled water to help cool them down. Two of the kittens responded. The third kept having a seizure.

The manager of Caroline's Kidz Cat Rescue Center on Morley Road took the kittens to the animal hospital for treatment.

All three also suffered from severe dehydration and were flea infested, deputies said.

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