40 dead cats were found in Paso Robles apartment. Now the DA is considering felony charges
The San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office is considering whether to file animal cruelty charges after at least 40 dead cats were discovered inside a filthy Paso Robles apartment.
District Attorney Dan Dow told The Tribune in an email that his agency received an investigation and referral requesting two felony animal cruelty charges for an individual.
The review comes about two and a half months after SLO County Animal Services discovered the dead cats in “extremely unsanitary conditions” in Unit 4 of the Presidio Apartments, located at 1040 Chestnut St. in Paso Robles.
Six live cats were also removed from the property, Animal Services manager Eric Anderson told The Tribune.
A woman who was on the private hazmat team hired to clean up the second-floor apartment shared disturbing photos of the interior, showing rooms filled with piles of cat feces and assorted garbage, according to a story posted by the Paso Robles Daily News.
In the bathroom, cat feces filled the bathtub up to the brim. In other rooms, the feces mixed with empty cans and crushed bottles, dirty linens and other trash that appeared to have compacted in layers.
After the discovery, the city red-tagged the apartment.
Dow said the case was assigned to a deputy district attorney for review and possible further investigation.
“We will carefully consider the evidence and investigative reports before making a filing decision,” Dow said. “This may take a significant amount of time if it is determined that additional investigation is required.”
Dow did not name which individual would be charged if the agency decides to file charges.
But Laurie Bryant, the apartment manager, was listed as the owner of “40 deceased cat remains” and “six live cats” on a seized item receipt posted at the apartment.
Bryant is a co-founder of the SLO County News Facebook page and has stepped down from her work with the organization.
Bryant told the Daily News the apartment had been vacant since October 2023.
Neighbors confirmed to The Tribune the apartment had been vacant for about a year and named Bryant as the last tenant they knew of.
They also said they saw stray cats coming and going from the unoccupied apartment through a broken window screen.
Cleanup crew member Nicole Fernandes told the Daily News that neighbors indicated someone regularly visited the apartment to drop off large bags of cat food.
“The cats were dead for so long, there were no flies, there were no maggots or bugs,” she told the Paso Daily News. “This was not just a year or two of stuff,” she said. “It was years and years.”
Tribune reporters Sadie Dittenber, Kaytlyn Leslie and Chloe Shrager contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 10:20 AM.
