117 cats removed from woman's home

OMAHA, July 24 (UPI) -- An Omaha woman is facing criminal charges after officials said they removed 117 cats from her home, where they found dead kittens in the yard and under a sink.

Hanne Kaea, 54, has received three citations in the past for housing an illegal number of cats, Nebraska Humane Society officials said.

Humane Society officials arrived at Kaea's home Wednesday after being contacted by the Council Bluffs (Iowa) City Attorney's Office, Omaha World-Herald reported.

Don Bauermeister, an assistant city attorney in Council Bluffs, said he was reviewing police records and saw Kaea was nabbed for allegedly stealing about $100 of cat food at a Council Bluffs Wal-Mart.

"When I ran her information through Nebraska Criminal Justice Information System, I saw she previously had been cited by Nebraska Humane Society (for keeping too many cats). That's when I called NHS," Bauermeister told the World-Herald.

Officials told the newspaper they removed 117 cats, a raccoon and a rabbit from the home, where they also discovered five dead kittens.

Kaea will receive misdemeanor citations for alleged cruelty to animals, harboring a wild animal and creating a public nuisance, Humane Society spokeswoman Pam Wiese said to the World-Herald.