Wydell Dixon and Kimberly Paskert were both charged yesterday with four counts of animal abuse torture for their neglect of the Whiskerville cats. As the nearly 200 living cats receive tender loving care, the sanctuary owner and her employee will be called to account for the horrific manner in which they let the cats down.



The felony animal cruelty charges against Dixon and Paskert are thought to be based on necropsy results from some of the cats who died at the Whiskerville Animal Sanctuary, in Texas city Texas, before the massive raid that removed nearly 200 living cats and 27 dead on January 3.

Both women turned themselves in to on Wednesday afternoon and were released on $8,000 bond. Each count of felony cruelty to animals is punishable by as much as a $10,000 fine and up to two years in jail.

Wydell Dixon continues to redirect the finger of blame to Kim Paskert , who was tasked with daily care for the animals. Dixon claims to have been out of town for the month preceeding the seizure, during which time the cats were left in filth without being fed.

During Tuesday’s civil hearing, when Dixon was denied posession of the cats, she called them her “babies”. While she claims to have been in phone contact every day with Paskert, she apparently never asked to see cell phone photos of the babies and their surroundings. Paskert’s version of the degree of contact between the two women differs. Observers who sat in court report numerous instances of Dixon, her husband and Paskert all contradicting themselves and one another.