Coon Rapids Woman Accused Of Mistreating More Than 70 Rescue Cats

Coon Rapids Woman Accused Of Mistreating More Than 70 Rescue Cats

Jensen told officers that she did not take the cats to the vet but provided vaccinations herself, which she obtained through the Internet.

A Coon Rapids woman is facing multiple felony charges after police found over 79 malnourished and sickly cats at her home where she ran a "rescue."

Charges were filed against DeAnn Jensen, 58, on Thursday and included four felony counts of mistreatment of animals and an additional gross misdemeanor.

The charges state that at the beginning of October 2022, Coon Rapids Police received the first of multiple complaints related to Jensen and her sale of sick kittens from her residence, out of which she operated a “rescue” called “Scratching Post Number 9.”

Officers contacted her in 2022, where she acknowledged having fifteen cats at her residence, excluding the three she owned as pets.

With Jensen's consent, a community service officer entered her garage and allegedly saw several kennels lined up along the garage wall, all containing cats and kittens.

Jensen told officers that she did not take the cats to the vet but provided vaccinations herself, which she obtained online.

When officers returned to the residence in February 2023, they could not enter the garage or see the animals. Another person reported in March of this year that they had purchased two kittens from Jensen, and both were gravely ill and had to be euthanized shortly after.

A search warrant was executed at Jensen's residence on April 11, 2024. Officers found 79 cats and one dead kitten inside the garage when they entered. The garage walls were lined with wire kennels, most of which contained multiple cats. According to the charges, at least nine litters of kittens were found inside the garage.

While all the animals had access to food and water, the charges state that the odor of ammonia inside the garage was "so overwhelming," officers and animal humane society workers had to take breaks from the exposure despite wearing N95 masks. This is due to the fact there was allegedly no ventilation inside of the garage.

One kennel inside the garage contained the most obviously sick animals, including a mother cat and her three kittens, who all had to be humanely euthanized after they were found to have feline panleukopenia virus.

According to the charges, 25 of the kittens had areas of hair loss and crusty skin, consistent with active ringworm infection, and all were underweight.

One seized cat was identified as “Jack,” with only one healthy eye. In March 2023, officers had received a report about “Jack” from someone interested in purchasing him, but Jensen had told them she would keep him for breeding purposes.

This worried the potential buyer because Jack's eye was "obviously injured and weeping."

All of the animals were seized and transported to the Animal Humane Society.

In contrast to the condition of the animals kept in her garage, Jensen's five cats, which she kept as pets, were kept separately inside her home and were all clean and healthy.

Her first appearance in court is set for Nov. 8 at 1:30 p.m. Court documents show Jensen has acquired defense attorney Rebecca Adams of Hoglund and Mrozik.

Bring Me The News reached out to Adams and her team, but they have not responded yet.

SOURCE: Bring Me The News