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Sick, dead cats removed from Lawndale home

The Pennsylvania SPCA removed 12 live and six dead cats from a row house in Lawndale Tuesday, and expect to arrest a couple who lived there on animal cruelty charges, among other offenses, a PSPCA spokeswoman said.

Acting on a tip from neighbors, PSPCA officers raided the home on Lawndale Avenue near Levick Street and found a couple in their late 50s to early 60s living in squalid conditions along with the cats, said Wendy Marano, a PSPCA spokeswoman.

The PSPCA did not release the identities of the people who lived in the home following the raid.

Inside the house officers found cat feces and trash, which left a lingering odor neighbors down the block said they could smell inside their homes, Marano said.

"This has been going on for years," she said, "It'll definitely be animal cruelty charges, unsanitary conditions, lack of veterinary care."

The criminal charges were pending Tuesday night.

Most of the living cats were sick, and will have to be evaluated by veterinarian, Marano said.