A Lewistown woman charged with animal cruelty after almost 90 cats were removed from her house said officials have known for years that she had many cats on the property, and even issued a permit for up to 140 animals.

Kimberly McMillian-Stakes said Frederick County Animal Control officers have been to her former home on many occasions and had her pick up her cats at the Animal Control Center when they got off the property and were captured. She said neglect was never an issue.

McMillian-Stakes had operated a sanctuary on the property in the 1200 block of Putman Road since 1991, she said, taking in mostly feral cats, many with health problems, and spending thousands of dollars on food and veterinary care.

“I take in the cats that aren’t perfect, and I love them to death,” McMillian-Stakes said. “I owe several vets thousands of dollars.”

McMillian-Stakes said she has spent more than $30,000 some years on food and vet bills. She sees the longevity of some cats as proof that the animals received proper care.

“You can’t say when there are cats over 20 (years old) that they weren’t being cared for,” McMillian-Stakes said. “I’ve gone without everything, but those cats have never gone without.”

A 2006 letter from veterinarian Charles Mecenas of the Animal Care Clinic in Walkersville appears to support several of McMillian-Stakes’ claims. According to the letter, Mecenas — who wrote that he had been to the property to care for cats — believed the animals were getting adequate food, shelter and veterinary care.

“Ms. Stakes has demonstrated to me that she provides individualized attention to all her cats, even to the extent of knowing individuals by name and personality,” the letter states. “In summary, Ms. Stakes has undertaken the enormous task of providing over a hundred cats with a suitable home, cats that otherwise would likely remain homeless or be euthanized.”

An invoice from the same year shows McMillian-Stakes making $13,259.82 in payments to the Animal Care Clinic between January and August. According to the invoice, she spent $3,417.70 in 2005, $18,382.38 in 2004 and $12,502.29 in 2003.

Animal Control Director Harold Domer would not comment on the specifics of the cats’ care, but he said documenting vet visits was part of the investigation that led to McMillian-Stakes being charged with multiple counts of failure to provide veterinary care. He also said the issue came up when her animals ended up at the county center.

“On more than one occasion, the cats that were returned to her needed veterinary care, and she was told to make sure that happened,” Domer said.

McMillian-Stakes said Animal Control officials have refused to let her see the cats they removed in October, some of which she believes have been unnecessarily put down. She believes more will be destroyed because she is speaking with the media, she said.

“Mark my words, they will put down more cats,” she said.

Domer said McMillian-Stakes is not allowed to see the cats because officials believe it would put stress on the animals. But she was offered a chance to look at pictures of each cat, he said, so she could share specific medical and behavioral information about them.

“As of today, that has not taken place,” Domer said Tuesday.

All the cats that were put down were first evaluated by a veterinarian.

Conflicting statements

McMillian-Stakes acknowledged conditions at the house — including high levels of ammonia from cat waste — got out of hand in recent months. But she said her health and financial problems, including a lack of steady income for three years, prevented her from keeping up with the mess.

She said she plans to save the house from foreclosure and remodel the interior. She was not staying at the property except to work on the house and feed and care for the cats.

“Did the house get to be a mess at the end?” McMillian-Stakes said. “Yeah, it did get to be a mess, but everything was about to be thrown away anyway.”

McMillian-Stakes said officers misrepresented in charging documents some of what they found in the house: Buckets of debris from a flood in the basement, which she said contained cat waste scraped from the floor, were characterized as overflowing litter boxes, and feathers from a bird one of the cats likely dragged in were described as bird remains she was feeding the cats.

“I would never feed them a bird,” she said.

The cats were given dry food twice a day, she said, and a “milkshake” of wet food, milk, vitamins and any necessary medications once a day.

Animal Control officers reported finding 68 dead cats on the property in coolers and in plastic bags in a pit in the backyard.

These were older animals that had died of natural causes and were being buried, McMillian-Stakes said; her sister was going to fill in the pit containing the carcasses.

She took issue with the number of dead cats reported, saying there were not nearly that many.

Domer said he has not been inside the house and would defer to the charging documents regarding the conditions officers found there. The number of dead cats, he said, was determined by a careful count.

“I don’t want to try this case in the media,” Domer said.

McMillian-Stakes has filed a petition to have the remaining cats returned to her. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday.

Copyright 2011 The Frederick News-Post. All rights reserved.