Schaghticoke

What started as a call to check on the safety of a woman ended with troopers removing 80 of 150 cats from a River Road home on Tuesday.

There were so many cats crammed into the single-family home at 1106 River Road in Pleasantdale that troopers and humane society workers will return on Wednesday to get the remaining 70 cats, said Sgt. S.P. Dauphinais, commander of the Brunswick barracks.

"The house is in a deplorable condition. This is not what we expected to find," Dauphinais said.

State Police didn't identify the woman, but Brad Shear, executive director of the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, said she and her family had been involved in previous cat hoarding reports in Schaghticoke, Halfmoon and Vermont.

The house is owned by Bertha A. Ryan, Schaghticoke tax rolls show. She was involved in at least two incidents, including one at 1106 River Road in 2010.

"This makes 450 cats," Shear said of the total in the four incidents.

"She's been doing this for years. It's a shame," said Carol Lane, who lives down River Road from Ryan's house.

According to previous police reports, Ryan shared the home with Mary A. Ryan, her sister, who was involved in a 2012 Halfmoon incident and the previous one in Schaghticoke.

It was not known which of the Ryan sisters, or if both, were suspects in the latest report.

Bertha A. Ryan and a third sister, Regina Millard, were stopped in 2010 by police in Bennington, Vt., with 77 cats in two cars.

Trooper Jeff Wait carried out the welfare check on Tuesday, Dauphinais said. After he found the cats, State Police secured a search warrant for 1106 River Road.

Besides the cats in the house, they also found cats in the house's walls.

Firefighters, troopers and humane workers will return Wednesday to get the cats out of the walls.

Troopers and Mohawk-Hudson workers wore white hazmat suits and were to be decontaminated because of the infestation of fleas in the house. The Rensselaer County Decontamination Team vehicle was sent to the scene.

The cats were taken to be evaluated at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Menands. They appeared to have eye infections, respiratory infections and to be anemic, Shear said.

The shelter needs canned cat food to feed the cats and money to buy antibiotics, Shear said. The food and money can be dropped off at the shelter at 3 Oakland Ave. in Menands or donations can be made through www.mohawkhumane.org.