Woman had 104 cats in her home

WITTMANN, Ariz., July 9 (UPI) -- Suburban Phoenix authorities said they expected to charge an 80-year-old woman with felony animal-abuse charges after they found 104 diseased cats in her home.

Nine kittens were found dead, kept in freezers of the home of Lucienne Touboul of Wittmann, Ariz., 35 miles northwest of Phoenix, sheriff's deputies said.

Most remaining cats were so diseased -- some without eyes, others with feline leukemia and other illnesses -- that they were euthanized on the spot, the deputies said.

Touboul was taken to a hospital because authorities were concerned about her health since some of the cat diseases could be harmful to humans, Sgt. Matt Summers told The Arizona Republic.

When deputies with a search warrant arrived at Touboul's home Thursday, she threatened to kill the officers if they touched her animals, authorities said. She told deputies "she enjoys when officers die," Summers told the newspaper.

Touboul had a similar run-in with the sheriff's office about three years ago, Summers said. At that time she had 70 to 100 cats in a similar condition, he said.

A judge at the time ordered Touboul to give up all but a handful of the cats. She started hoarding them again, Summers said.

Deputies also found a dog outside the home that looked healthy. The dog will probably remain with Touboul if she returns home, Summers said.

While Touboul will likely face animal-abuse charges, she will not likely go to jail, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told the newspaper.

She is "too old and frail to see the inside of a jail cell," he said.