Carla Bayrón reports
FROST PROOF, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is asking the network to adopt an animal cat to make room for more than 100 cats seized in a hoarding situation.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to a home on Fazzini Drive in Frostproof for social assistance after the SPCA reported suspected animal neglect.
According to the SPCA, Lisa Lacharite, 48, went to the facility in Polk County earlier this month with 22 cats she wanted to have spayed and neutered.
Courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Randa Richter of the SPCA said Lacharite smelled of ammonia and the cats were in poor condition.
She added that the cats had fleas, were missing fur and had upper respiratory issues. They also had nasal and eye discharge and wounds from fighting.
Richter said Lacharite told the SPCA that the cats at its assets were in worse condition and that’s when the facility contacted Animal Control.
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When the MPs arrived, they said they had discovered “a situation”.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd provides an update on a woman arrested after deputies discovered more than three hundred animals were living inside her mobile home.
According to Sheriff Judd, Lacharite, a second-grade instructor at Ben Hill Elementary School, lived with her mother in a double space with 309 animals.
“We seized 142 cats. Of the 142 cats, more than a hundred roamed freely around the house. We seized 164 ducks, chickens and a peacock. And we seized 3 dogs,” Sheriff Judd said. “We discovered cats that had been overlooked and, seriously, cats. “”.
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Deputies say they did not find any deceased animals at the home.
Courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Lacharite was arrested and charged with five counts of animal cruelty and 304 counts of animal neglect.
“These animals were overlooked and abused just because of the environment they were in,” Sheriff Judd said.
The sheriff explained that Polk County firefighters conducted an air quality check outside the mobile home and the samples contained between 70 and 100 servings per million of ammonia. The PCFR states that anything above 50 servings per million is dangerous to humans and animal health.
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“Imagine more than 100 cats in the wild in a double-sided cell house. Imagine ducks and chickens stacked on top of each other in 4- or 5-tall cages that won’t defecate or urinate through the open cordon of the animals beneath them. “A girl shows up at the SPCA with 20 or 22 cats to be spayed or neutered. Imagine that when you walk into the driveway. . . and you can smell the smell from there,” Sheriff Judd said.
Photo by Lisa Lacharite, courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Judd said he notified the school where Lacharite worked, and workers said they noticed he still smelled bad.
“She was mean and was going to interact with the second graders. Can you believe that sending your child to school and that a woman from that environment was going to interact and touch your son today?Come on, girl, what’s wrong with you?” asked Sheriff Judd.
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Lacharite has also been charged with neglecting the elderly, which is a felony. Sheriff Judd says he cares for his 75-year-old mother.
Courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
“This 75-year-old woman, who is disabled and can move around a little bit, lived there the whole time and those cats lived there all the time and those cats and chickens lived there all the time,” Sheriff Judd said.
Lacharite’s mother was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Sheriff Judd says the SPCA has taken in the 22 cats it has spayed and neutered, and Animal Control will take in the rest of the cats. He said he had waived adoption fees until the end of the year to incentivize other people to adopt an animal. to make room for rescued cats.
“We have an overload right now because of this rescue that we did. We did our best to save all of these cats, all of these ducks, all of these chickens. I’m grateful that Lisa is not an evil person. She surrendered all but three dogs and three cats to us,” Sheriff Judd stated.
Courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Sheriff Judd, the seized ducks and chickens would be auctioned off Friday night.
“We want to get them home and get them out of the shelter,” Sheriff Judd said.
According to Sheriff Judd, the matter is still under investigation and Lacharite could face further charges.
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