Woman Charged With Keeping 35 Animals

A woman was charged Friday with illegally keeping 35 live animals in her one-bedroom apartment in Hollywood and storing the corpses of 45 cats in her kitchen freezer. Roberta Murray, 61, was charged with 34 counts of animal neglect and one count each of illegally keeping dead animals, operating an unlicensed kennel and refusing to permit an inspection by city animal control workers.

Officials from the Animal Regulation Department began investigating Murray after receiving complaints from neighbors in her Hollywood apartment building on Yucca Avenue who reported a stench coming from her apartment, City Atty. James K. Hahn said.

Animal regulation officers found 33 cats and two dogs living in the apartment and the bodies of 45 cats wrapped in aluminum foil in the freezer. The live animals were taken to an animal shelter, where officials discovered that all the cats and one of the dogs were suffering from a variety of illnesses.