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Christ Rupprecht: Judge sets bond for alleged cat hoarder, says she can't have animals

Posted at 11:54 AM, Jul 30, 2013
and last updated 2014-04-29 13:33:10-04

A judge refused to lower the bond for the Port St. Lucie woman accused of hoarding more than fifty cats and living with her children in a house of filth.

Christa Rupprecht was in court in Ft. Pierce Tuesday morning.

The judge maintained the $8,250 bond and said if she bails out she is not allowed to have contact with animals and that the Florida Department of Children and Families will do welfare checks on her two sons.

Police say they found over fifty cats in the family's Port St. Lucie home living in what they call deplorable conditions with feces in many rooms.

The director of the Humane Society says he is familiar with Rupprecht because his shelter had to take in dozens of her cats in January.

"She tried to save one cat, and it turned into a house full…it gets out of control. There are so many unwanted animals or stray animals and people think they are doing the better thing," David Robertson said.

Robertson says the cats will likely be up for adoption in a month. He says Rupprecht is not giving up custody of the animals at this point, so they have to go through a process to get ownership.

PHOTOS: Cats seized, mother arrested http://bit.ly/16vCzQD