Woman at home overun with cats had prior animal charge

LANSING TWP. – A woman who lived at a home where about 135 living and dead cats were removed by animal control officers on Wednesday had been charged in an earlier animal neglect case in East Lansing.

Amanda Lenore Price, 22, who was taken from the house on Autumn Lane in Lansing Township in handcuffs on Wednesday, was arraigned Thursday in 54B District Court on an unrelated misdemeanor charge of animal abandonment or cruelty. She was released on a personal bond with a condition she not have pets of any kind.

That warrant was issued in April and stems from an incident in August 2014 at a residence on Rolling Brook Lane in East Lansing, court records say. Authorities allege she failed to adequately care for two or three animals.

No charges have been issued in connection with Wednesday's search at the house in the Groesbeck neighborhood in Lansing Township.

As many as 35 cats were discovered dead inside, and many of the 99 living cats removed from the home will likely be euthanized, Ingham County Animal Control officials said.

The cats had been living in their own urine and feces for an unknown period of time, Animal Control Director Andy Seltz said.

Seltz said there are only estimates of the number of deceased cats in the incident. Veterinarians will recommend whether surviving cats should be euthanized during an investigation that will take about two weeks, he said. The cats were exposed to high levels of ammonia released from the breakdown of their own urine, he said.

"There's a high incidence of extreme illness based on the conditions those cats had to deal with," Seltz said. "We're still actually in the process of going through evaluations. We would expect to have to partake in additional euthanizations. (These are) very, very sick cats."

Price appeared in court Thursday with attorney Robert McCarthy, who told Judge Andrea Larkin that Price lives with her mother at the home on Autumn Lane. McCarthy declined comment after the hearing.

Seltz said it appears Price moved from East Lansing to Lansing Township over the past year. She failed to appear in court on the warrant issued in April, he said.

At least one person could face animal neglect and cruelty charges in connection with the Autumn Lane incident once the investigation is completed, Seltz said.

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Contact Christopher Behnan at (517) 377-1261 or cbehnan@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @LansingCB. Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com.