Couple sentenced to probation after 178 cats removed from home

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP (AP) — A couple has been sentenced to three years’ probation after 178 cats were removed earlier this year from a suburban Detroit home.

WJBK-TV reports that Jonathan and Jennifer Klein also were ordered Wednesday to pay more than $4,400 in restitution. They were charged in June with abandonment or cruelty to animals.

The animals were found in April after an Oakland County animal control officer went to a home in West Bloomfield Township to perform a welfare check on cats there.

Many of the cats that were removed from the house had health issues including upper respiratory infections, fleas, skin infections, ear mites and malnutrition.

At least 60 of the cats had to be euthanized because of severe illness or aggression.