[Heraldnet] A psychologist predicted last year that Kathryn St. Clare would be back to hoarding cats if she didn’t receive proper mental health treatment.The former Lake Stevens woman, who was convicted last year of animal cruelty for collecting 111 cats in a recreational trailer, was arrested Monday in a small Oregon town for investigation of animal neglect. A police officer allegedly found 41 live cats and a dead one in St. Clare's car.
Gives new meaning to puss* in the back seat
The officer noted that the car reeked of cat urine and feces.
St. Clare, 58, also was wanted on Snohomish County warrants. She failed to appear for a hearing in April 2016 to determine how much she would be ordered to pay Snohomish County for costs associated with investigating St. Clare two years earlier.
There also were concerns that St. Clare wasn't following through with mental health treatment, and prosecutors had received word that she might be hoarding cats again, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Michael Boska said Tuesday.
St. Clare's case highlighted the complexities facing the criminal justice system when dealing with people living with mental illness.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Bowden raised questions about why St. Clare ended up in front of a jury instead of in a county-funded program billed as a way to divert some mentally ill people out of the courts.