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NO ONE WOULD accuse Jaroslav Flegr of being a conformist. A self-described “sloppy dresser,” the 63-year-old Czech scientist has the contemplative air of someone habitually lost in thought, and his still-youthful, square-jawed face is framed by frizzy red hair that encircles his head like a ring of fire. Certainly Flegr’s thinking is jarringly unconventional. Starting in the early 1990s, he began to suspect that a single-celled parasite in the protozoan family was subtly manipulating his personality, causing him to behave in strange, often self-destructive ways. And if it was messing with his mind, he reasoned, it was probably doing the...

The bond between cats and their owners turns out to be far more intense than imagined, especially for cat aficionado women and their affection reciprocating felines, suggests a new study. Cats attach to humans, and particularly women, as social partners, and it's not just for the sake of obtaining food, according to the new research, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Behavioural Processes. The study is the first to show in detail that the dynamics underlying cat-human relationships are nearly identical to human-only bonds, with cats sometimes even becoming a furry "child" in nurturing homes. NEWS: Pets...

Two Troy women are charged with animal cruelty after Bennington, VT police say they had 77 cats living in two cars. Police think Regina Millard and Bertha Ryan may have been trying to find homes for the rescued strays by driving from shelter to shelter. Police say they learned of the situation after someone saw the pair sleeping in the cars with the cats. Bennington police allegedly found a dead cat in the trunk of one car, as well as plates of food and a litter box.

Authorities are investigating the deaths of two dozen cats found inside a woman's South Austin apartment in what investigators describe as one of the city's most horrific animal neglect cases. Detectives discovered 23 decomposing cats in an unplugged refrigerator in the woman's home, one dead animal in the living area and two others in her car, Sgt. Stephen Fleming said. Authorities said they are not sure how the cats died but think they may have suffered from a highly contagious respiratory illness. --- snip --- They said they were investigating the deaths and hadn't charged the 32-year-old woman with a...

BY TARYN FITSIK COLONIE, N.Y.--A Colonie woman faces animal cruelty charges after close to 70 cats are removed from her home. According to the Colonie Police Department, concerned neighbors contacted them regarding the condition of the cats living in Margaret Tomko's home on John Street. Police say they made numerous attempts to resolve the problem, but Tomko refused them all. However, police finally got a search warrant, and the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society went in to get the animals. "Unfortunately it's something we see with quite regularity," says Brad Shear, the humane society's executive director. "It's not even...

Toxoplasmosis, a common food- and pet-borne illness linked to hallucinations, personality alteration, and, since it's often carried by house pets, the stereotype of the crazy cat lady, infects around 15 percent of the US population. Luckily, a new technique that traps the parasite with gold nanoparticles, and then zaps them with lasers, should help ease the $7.7 billion the disease costs America every year. The treatment, developed at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, uses gold nanoparticles that attach to toxoplasmid-hunting antibodies. The gold carrying-antibodies then spread through the circulatory system, affixing themselves to parasites in the blood. Once the...

47 cats pulled from filthy mobile home Owner faces 47 felony counts of animal cruelty Updated: Monday, 29 Jun 2009, 11:20 PM MDT Published : Monday, 29 Jun 2009, 11:02 PM MDT * Reporter: Maria Medina * Web Producer: Devon Armijo LOS LUNAS (KRQE) - A Highland Meadows woman is facing one count of animal cruelty for each of the 47 diseased cats that Valencia County Animal Control authorities reported finding in her home. Valencia County Code Enforcement Director Ruben Chavez said animal control had to euthanize all the cats because of respiratory illnesses. Veterinarians also suspect the cats had...

LODI, Calif. -- A community controversy is brewing in Lodi. A neighbor posted a sign with the words, "Hit a cat, I'll hit your kid." Some neighbors said they are concerned their children's lives are being threatened. "Basically what this is saying is: Hit a cat and I'll hit your kid," said Tina Teixeira. Teixeira got a lot of attention after she put the sign up in front of her West Elm Street home in Lodi. "You don't want me to hit your kid so don't hit mine. You hurt mine, that is just like if I went over and...

Cedarburg, WI - A husband and wife who kept more than 100 cats in a house each have been charged in Ozaukee County with 30 misdemeanors accusing them of failing to provide food and water for the animals and failing to provide the cats with minimum standards of sanitation. The couple, Michael A. Rossobillo, 61, and Carol A. Munden, 58, could not be reached for comment Thursday. They are charged with 10 counts each of failing to provide proper food to confined animals, failing to adequately provide water to the animals and failing to provide minimum sanitation standards for the...

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It was time for the "Childfree Landslide News." Christine Fisher leaned forward and announced this in a soft voice that would sound surprisingly strong when it aired as part of her weekly (at least on Mars, she says, where weeks are 13 days) online show, the "Adult Space Child Free Podcast." She had just put in a day at the pharmaceutical company where she works and was home in her Newark apartment, shoes off, with her husband flopped on a sofa reading in the next room and her two cats roaming underfoot. She started the podcast, a medley of commentary,...

Raisa Glazunova plays with one her 91 cats in a two-room apartment in Boryspil, Ukraine.

PIERSON, Fla. -- A woman battling Volusia County for the right to keep her 200 cats is getting help from national talk-show host Dr. Phil. The talk-show host interviewed Kristy Grant for an upcoming show about people who hoard animals. He reportedly agreed to pay for an animal-rights lawyer to represent Grant in her fight to keep the cats, according to the Associated Press report. Grant, who is a second-grade teacher, wants permission to turn her home into an animal shelter. But the Volusia County Council rejected her request, citing county rules that limit residential pets to four per household....

A woman in Volusia County, Fla., has three months to get rid of nearly 170 cats living at her home after a request to keep them was denied, according to a Local 6 News report. Homeowner Kristi Grant has been taking care of the cats at her home -- which is surrounded by a high fence. However, neighbors have complained that the animals are attacking squirrels and killing birds. City Council members unanimously denied Grant's request to have her home declared an animal sanctuary. Grant can only keep four cats, according to zoning laws, the report said.

HUDSON - Pasco County officials are seeking to remove nearly 100 cats and dogs from a rat-infested, feces-fouled mobile home on Kitten Trail in a case being described as the worst investigators have seen. The county filed a petition Wednesday in circuit court for custody of an estimated 80 cats and 13 dogs, claiming the owners, Eric Scott Steffey, 46. and Susan M. Steffey, 49, are unfit and unable to provide a healthy environment for the animals. The petition describes filthy conditions where pets were crammed in cages, fed from a dirt floor and deprived of clean water. Rats the...

Donations Needed To Cover Cost Of Care MARION COUNTY, Ore. -- A woman who constantly took in cats is now turning over the more than 300 felines to the Willamette Humane Society. The owner said she wasn't collecting the animals. She always tried to find them homes and was happy when she did. The WHS staff will begin to collect the cats on Saturday morning. The staff doesn't know the condition of the animals but the owner has said many suffer from upper respiratory infections. Some also have feline leukemia and ringworm. WHS and nearby shelters and rescue organizations are...

Officials sent 35 firefighters to her house to rescue 'baby' from a sewer A 35-year-old Houston woman who dialed 911 and claimed that her 2-year-old "baby" was trapped in a storm sewer has been charged with making a false report, a Class B misdemeanor. The Houston Fire Department late Wednesday sent about 35 firefighters to her house. After arriving, they learned a 2-year-old cat named "Baby" was trapped, not a child. Angelikue M. Richardson called for the Fire Department's help "several times" Wednesday night, District Chief Jack Williams said Thursday. She finally told a 911 dispatcher that her "baby boy"...

Police: Urine From 35 Cats, Not Meth Lab, Caused OdorPOSTED: 10:00 am EST November 8, 2005 NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. -- It stinks! But at least it's not meth. Police in New Kensington, Pa., worried about a methamphetamine lab when neighbors complained of a strong ammonia-like smell coming from a house. But illegal drugs aren't to blame -- just a lot of cats. Code enforcement officer Rick Jacobus and police found 35 cats and a dog in the home. Jacobus said there were cats everywhere, from the rafters to the air ducts. The carpets and floor were soaked in cat urine,...

Maureen Dowd's penchant for provocative overstatement has found its most recent outlet in a much talked about excerpt of her new book, Are Men Necessary?, in the New York Times Magazine. In it she bemoans a perceived return of 1950s values and courtship rituals and portrays a younger generation of women as grasping, shallow housewife wannabes and "yummy mommies." In the most inflammatory and intriguing passages, she claims that men are put off by women in power, that they prefer the women who serve them—maids, masseuses, and secretaries—to their equals. She attributes the fact that she is unmarried to her...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. A grand jury will decide if a Gurley woman will stand trial for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill her neighbors to avenge her dead cat. 38-year-old Alisha Grantham is charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit murder. District Judge Lynn Sherrod sent the case to the jury and set Grantham's bail Wednesday at $200,000. She was arrested on May 20th. Sheriff's deputy Marcus Adams says Grantham tried to hire George Nayman of Gurley to kill the family next door. She suspected the family of three adults and a 13-year-old child of killing her...

President Bush kissing Cindy Sheehan in family photo dated June 18, 2004 While Cindy Sheehan continues to seek a second meeting with President Bush in connection with the death in Iraq of her son, Casey, there's been minimal coverage by the mainstream media of the first meeting between the pair, and no pictures. But an online search by WorldNetDaily reveals a host of family photographs of the Sheehan family, including one showing President Bush kissing Mrs. Sheehan. The photos were originally posted on a Sheehan family website featuring a large number of photos, but the images including President Bush posing...

House smell a little sour? Hear strange mewling in the walls? Maybe you, too, can be a crazy cat lady. So you'd think if you lived in a small town in rural Virginia and were 58 years old and spent a good number of your postmenopausal years hoarding feral cats to the point where you finally reached a grand total of 88 diseased and inbred felines all flopped like used rags around your house, well, you'd think you might have accomplished something just a little special. Especially if 29 of your cats happened to be, you know, dead, and...

More than 100 cats have been seized from a woman's home in Duluth's West Duluth neighborhood. The Duluth Animal Control and Animal Allies are asking for the public's help in finding homes for the cats. There are too many to be housed at the local animal shelter. People can adopt the cats or be foster owners until space becomes available at the shelter. Authorities say the cats seemed to be OK and had enough food and water. The woman living with the cats was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation. Authorities seized the cats after a complaint by the...

A 60-year-old woman was charged with animal cruelty after authorities said they found her living with 75 cats, 14 dogs and other animals, many of which had no food or water. Droppings and garbage about 6 inches deep covered the floors in every room of Judith Space's house on Fairmont Road, authorities said. Photographs show deep piles of animal droppings and trash on the kitchen stove and counters, as well as inside the dishwasher. An open window allowed the animals to come and go into the house, a sheriff's report stated. Space was cited for cruelty to animals for confining...

A woman who founded a "no-kill" animal shelter was charged with health code and animal welfare violations after 200 dead cats were discovered rotting in garbage bags in her backyard. Marlene Kess, who has built a reputation in Manhattan as a caretaker of homeless and dying cats, had 48 cats inside her house, including 38 in one room, authorities said. Out back, 200 vermin-infested cat corpses were stuffed into garbage bags and apparently were going to be buried in a large hole that had recently been dug, said Sgt. Joseph Bierman of the state's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty...

Over two decades, Marlene Kess built a reputation in Manhattan as a caregiver of last resort for homeless and dying cats. If her rescue and adoption agency, KittyKind, couldn't place a sick animal, she took it home herself, overseeing its recuperation or caring for it until its death. Yesterday, authorities discovered what Kess' philosophy looked like in practice. Summoned to the woman's East Orange home by a neighbor complaining about a stench, city health inspectors found 48 cats inside the house -- 38 of them in one room -- and more than 200 dead cats stuffed into garbage bags in...

Cat 'owes' $1,500 on credit card May 19, 2005 A cat in Maine has received a credit card bill for the equivalent of £959. The letter from Credit Store Financial Inc was addressed to Simone, an 18-year-old Siamese. It said she owed $1,444.26, plus interest of $54.01 and would receive an unsecured Visa card if she settled the debt. According to her owners Arlo and Gloria Hall, Simone was told she would be reported if she didn't pay up. A spokesman for the credit card company said they had a social security number on file for an account belonging to...

165 Pets Taken From Calif. Ex-Mayor's Home RIALTO, Calif. - Responding to neighbor complaints about a home's stench, authorities removed 135 dogs and 30 cats from a urine- and feces-soaked home where a rotting Great Dane was found earlier in a malfunctioning freezer. Charlotte Spadaro, a former mayor of Beverly Hills, had been rescuing animals for three years and kept them at her South Acacia Avenue home. Authorities monitoring the residence since discovering the Great Dane in January finally got a search warrant to remove the animals Thursday. "I think the city is out to have them massacred," Spadaro said....

Paula Roemer knows most people don't understand her passion for animals. Some of her North Seattle neighbors aren't thrilled about the crows she attracts to her back yard with bird seed, she says. When she rescued a scraggly kitten abandoned on a pathway while she was vacationing in Israel 13 years ago, people reacted with disdain. So when a neighbor's dog mauled and killed that same beloved cat, Yofi, last year, Roemer barely mentioned it to people she knew. But now she feels that she found one person who understood: a judge. Last week, Seattle District Court Judge Barbara Linde...

Vernon Hills -- Police removed about 60 cats from the apartment of a Vernon Hills woman who faces charges of violating a state law against animal hoarding, authorities said Tuesday. The cats were discovered Friday in the home of Cheryl Levin, 58, of the first block of Crestview Lane, after a downstairs neighbor called police because her ceiling had nearly collapsed from water damage, authorities said. When police went upstairs to investigate, they found the animals in a garbage-strewn apartment, said Kim Christenson, a Vernon Hills police spokesman.

A Chicago woman whose cat was mauled to death by a Rottweiler at an animal hospital is entitled to damages for the pain and suffering she's felt since her cat was killed, a state court ruled Monday. Mary Ann Anzalone, 45, wants more than $100,000 from Kragness Animal Hospital, the Far South Side clinic where her 4-year-old cat, "Blackie," was killed. Though Cook County Judge Barbara Disko dismissed Anzalone's claim for "intentional infliction of emotional distress," the Illinois Court of Appeals reversed that decision, saying that while the amount might have seemed excessive, Anzalone provided a good argument for the...

Greensboro, NC -- An Irving Park home has been condemned in a case animal control officers are calling "extremely unsanitary". Investigators say the homeowner was picking up roadkill and keeping it in her refrigerator, freezer and in plastic bags behind her house. "[There was] just trash, filth and debris throughout the house," says animal control officer Jennifer Welch. "There wasn't anywhere in the house that wasn't covered in it." Welch says the homeowner's sister called animal control after the house was condemned by the city, seeking help in the cleanup. Investigators say the animal carcasses were removed last weekend and...

More than 100 cats, many sick with respiratory illnesses and fleas, were rescued from a Pacific Grove residence Tuesday afternoon. Acting on a tip received last week, Pacific Grove police entered the home of an elderly widow in the 1300 block of Miles Street, where they found 136 cats. No arrests were made, but a criminal case for animal neglect charges was opened and sent to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office. After police and animal control officers entered the home, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Monterey County staff retrieved the cats. "The SPCA was called...

Firefighters entered a burning house Monday looking for children after a woman told them her three babies were inside. Officials later learned she was referring to her pet cats, said Deputy Chief Randy Ogden of the Tucson Fire Department. "We understand the importance of people's pets, and we take that into consideration," Ogden said, "but we also take into consideration the value of people's lives, and we wouldn't have committed firefighters to an intense fire situation." The fire happened Monday evening in the 5800 block of East 19th Street, near South Craycroft Road. Five adult residents got out safely, and...