Cobb County cat shelter under investigation for animal cruelty

MARIETTA, Ga. - The Cobb County Police Department is investigating a cat rescue in Marietta for animal cruelty. Volunteers filed complaints with the State Department of Agriculture and the Cobb County Police Department's Animal Control Unit saying the conditions the animals are living in are not acceptable.
    
The husband and wife who run the rescue Half the Way Home said the cats inside the shelter are only there temporarily. They said they were forced to move the animals into the Marietta building, and will be removing them shortly. The volunteers say it doesn't matter how long they're there--these cats need better care.

"I was absolutely horrified," said volunteer for the rescue, Brittany Satterfield, of the number of cats inside the Marietta building.

The cottage in Marietta is now holding more cats than usual, according to the rescue's founder Dana Starr Rittelmeyer.

"I had just moved the cats in 6 days ago," said Starr Rittelmeyer."It was an emergency short-term situation," she said.

"The property manager and the property owner have told me that there was only supposed to be 30 cats tops," said Satterfield. "She's only allowed 100 in her rescue, and yesterday, I had a volunteer count and there's 97 cats in here," said Satterfield.

Volunteers took photos and videos of the cats inside the Marietta building saying they're worried about these cats' health.

"It smells like illness, and it smells like it shouldn't smell when you have cats. I mean feces, vomit," said Satterfield. "They need help."

Starr Rittelmeyer said she is going to move the cats out of the building soon.

"I've done nothing wrong, the cats are in good shape, I'm sorry, I don't have anything else to say," Starr Rittelmeyer said.

The attorney representing the non-profit says Cobb County Police and the State Department of Agriculture gave the rescue 30 days to get the cats moved.