Gail Giustino is 77 years old and delivers mail for the United States Postal Service in Martin County, Florida. During her daily route, she picked up stray cats. She took them home. She said she was saving them.
When authorities finally managed to enter her home, on the 11500 block of Southwest Meadowlark Circle, they found something that not even Sheriff John Budensiek had seen before: at least 70 cats and several dogs living amid accumulated feces up to 30 centimeters high. The smell was so strong that hazardous materials personnel were needed to inspect the entire property.
Giustino already had 65 previous violations for keeping animals confined in those conditions. Now investigators suspect that she moved about 20 animals to shelters before the inspection, so the number would appear lower. The sheriff does not believe she acted maliciously, but rather that her rescue attempt got out of hand. Even so, she faces animal cruelty charges.
