Deanna Lusko, Owner Of Cool Cats Rescue, Pleads Guilty To Causing Animals Unnecessary Pain And Suffering

Cat Hoarder Faces Justice

A woman who faced more than 140 counts of keeping dozens of cats in poor conditions and not taking care of them entered a plea Tuesday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her of 10 charges.

Deanna Lusko, who owned the Cool Cats Rescue, in Severna Park, entered an Alford plea to five counts of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to the animals and five counts of not providing veterinary care, according to Kristin Fleckenstein, spokeswoman for the county prosecutors.

Lusko will not serve a jail term under the sentence imposed by Judge William Mulford II. The judge suspended a jail sentence of 90 days on each of the 10 counts, placed Lusko on probation for five years and banned her from having animals during that time. He also fined her $2,000 and ordered mental health treatment, Fleckenstein said.

Last September, amid complaints from neighbors, animal control officers seized 67 cats from the Severna Park site, many of them ill, and found two dead cats on the property

Andrea.siegel@baltsun.com ___

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