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Bob and Millie Sutton have lived across the street from Jean Urquhart in North Huntingdon Township for 45 years. They've lived with her cat problem for the past 18 years.

The Suttons said they had no idea their 71-year-old neighbor's obsession with cats was so extreme until they heard what humane officers discovered Wednesday when they entered her house at 9841 Joan Drive.

By yesterday afternoon, humane officers had removed 50 cats. More than half were dead. Officers said they couldn't determine how many were still inside the home that reeked with a stench so intense officers could stay inside only for 15-minute intervals.

"We've been here since 10 a.m. and we got about 50 out -- 30 alive and 20 dead. There's probably 30-40 more still inside. They're up in the rafters... in the duct work ... everywhere," said humane officer Katie Waters, who was taking a break from searching for cats.

"There's not an inch of the house that doesn't have 4 to 5 inches of cat feces," said Kathy Hecker, a humane officer with Animal Friends.

Dressed in white hazardous materials garb, Hecker said the smell of ammonia was so overwhelming it even penetrated her gas mask.

"On a scale of one to 10, I give this a 15," she said at the scene. "This is animal hoarding. It's a behavioral disorder."

Humane officer Elaine Gower, of Action for Animals, said the agency could charge Urquhart with a cruelty to animals count for each cat it finds. The officers were more interested in preventing Urquhart from collecting cats again, however.

"We just want this stopped," Gower said.

Urquhart's daughter arrived at the home to remove more cats and take them to Fallen Timber Animal Shelter in Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County. She declined to comment about her mother's situation.

The woman's daughters have been "extremely cooperative," Gower said.

"They work with their mother at their insurance agency in Irwin. They knew she liked cats. They are going to pay for the cleanup," said Gower, noting the house is irreparable and will have to be demolished.

A group of neighbors are considering attending the next township commissioners meeting to complain about the lack of response to their calls, Sutton said.

"We called the township, the police department and the humane society. They said there was nothing they could do," he said. "We just don't want some other poor devil to go through what we went through with this."

Hecker said she hadn't received any complaints about the home until Monday.

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