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Animal Hoarding in Wittmann, AZ

May 23, 2012

An 81-year-old Lucienne Touboul again faces a dilemma for animal hoarding. Deputies went to the home about 6 a.m. on Wednesday because Touboul had an outstanding warrant related to an incident two years ago. She was arrested Wednesday on suspicion for 26 counts of animal neglect and cruelty after it was discovered she was hoarding 64 cats. The cats were evaluated by a veterinarian and are being transferred to the Sheriff’s Office Animal Safe House in the old First Avenue Jail.

The arrest was made almost two years after police found Touboul with more than 104 cats in her residence. At the time, most of the cats had to be euthanized. Three years before that, a judge had ordered Touboul to give up almost all of her cats except a handful. In the 2010 case, the cats showed signs of severe respiratory disease, were severely underweight, and had ruptured eyes due to ulcers. Nine dead cats were found in freezers. There was evidence that some of the cats were used for human consumption.

Touboul admitted to police at the time that she would use the dead cats to make soup. Touboul in 2010 had told The Republic that she froze the deceased cats until a friend visited to help her properly bury them.

Gary Patronek, who founded a research group in Boston to study animal hoarders, previously told The Republic that hoarding can be a coping mechanism. He said animal hoarders often lack insight. They don’t see the filth, dead animals and unlivable conditions obvious to everyone else.

In the past, Touboul told The Republic she was born in North Africa and that her husband and five sons were beheaded in Morocco. Morocco went through a violent nationalist movement in the 1970s but Touboul’s claim is unconfirmed. Touboul moved eventually to Arizona where she worked as a nurse. She has lived in her Wittmann home for 13 years. Touboul is in custody in the Fourth Avenue Jail.

What are your thoughts on hoarding?