Garfield cat hoarder sentenced to jail time

PITTSBURGH,None — A Garfield woman was arrested Thursday afternoon after a two-week deadline for her to remove cats from her two homes passed.

Police said they found 23 cats inside Eleanor Clifford’s North Mathilda Street homes.

“I have to go 240 days in jail just because I love cats,” Clifford said as authorities removed the cats from the homes.

When police began investigating Clifford’s houses months ago, she was hoarding almost 100 cats, officials said.

“You’re still living in a toilet bowl,” Pittsburgh police Officer Christine Liffey said to Clifford Thursday. “It’s against the law for animals to live in there, let alone a human being.”

“There’s no reason for this to have happened,” Animal Friends officer Kathy Hecker said. “Breeding cats and breeding them to let them get sick and die should not happen.”

After Judge Ron Costa sentenced Clifford, police said, she raced home and allegedly threw a milk jug at an officer.

She now also faces charges of aggravated assault on a police officer on top of the nearly 93 counts of animal cruelty.

WPXI