FORT SMITH (KFSM) – A warrant of seizure has been issued against a Fort Smith woman on Friday (July 18) with approximately 200 cats, according to a news release for JoAnn Barton with the Sebastian County Humane Society.
Suzanne Lafontaine was booked into the Sebastian County Detention Center and is facing a animal cruelty charge.
“There were 203 that were removed alive, probably four that we found in the house that were deceased and then another 15 in the freezers,” Sebastian County Humane Society supervisor Bekah Trotter said.
Barton said that cruelty investigators, as well as, animal control personnel went to a Fort Smith home, and they found that 90% of the woman’s cats were sick, one was dead and some kittens were near death, the release states.
Residents of the city and vets had been taking the animals to the woman without knowing what kind of conditions the cats would be living in, according to the release.
Lafontaine’s bond is set at $10,000. Her next court date is July 22.
