A Coon Rapids woman is facing criminal charges after law enforcement found dozens of cats living in her garage in inhumane conditions earlier this year.

A criminal complaint filed in Anoka County states Deann Marie Jensen, 59, sold kittens through her “rescue,” Scratching Post Number 9.

Coon Rapids police first began investigating complaints of Jensen selling sick kittens to customers in October 2022. At the time, she said she had 15 cats in addition to the three she owned as pets. She said she does not take them to a veterinarian for care and buys their vaccinations off the internet, the complaint states.

Law enforcement stopped by again in February 2023, but she didn’t let them into the garage or let them see the animals. In March 2024, another person said they had bought two kittens from Jensen but had to euthanize them soon after because they “were gravely ill.”

According to the complaint, police got a search warrant in April and found 79 cats in Jensen’s garage, along with one deceased kitten. All of the animals were in wire crates, most of which contained multiple cats.

The complaint describes an “overwhelming” ammonia odor inside the unventilated garage that forced police and Animal Humane Society personnel to take breaks periodically, despite wearing N95 masks.

One kennel contained a mother who was lethargic with weeping eyes and her three kittens, who were covered in dried diarrhea. All four were diagnosed with feline panleukopenia virus, also known as distemper, and were euthanized.

Another 25 kittens had hair loss and crusty skin consistent with ringworm infection. While the animals had access to food and water, all of the kittens were found to be underweight.

A male cat named Jack was found with an infected eye. According to the complaint, Coon Rapids police had received a report back in March 2023 about Jack from someone who was interested in buying him as a kitten — the person was concerned because its eye “was obviously injured and weeping,” but Jensen did not want to take him to the vet for care. By the time of the search warrant in April 2024, Jack’s eye had ruptured and was still actively infected; veterinarians noted this “would have been a extremely painful condition for the cat” that proper care could have alleviated.

The Animal Humane Society took all of the cats into their care. One AHS veterinarian who was there when the cats were seized and helped care for them afterward said “most” of the cats’ medical issues were treatable with early intervention or preventable entirely with proper care.

The complaint notes that five cats that Jensen kept as pets in her home were “clean and adequately healthy.”

“We had a team on scene loaded up 79 cats. Unfortunately, there was at least one deceased on scene,” Dr. Graham Brayshaw, Animal Humane Society lead veterinarian, said. “The most shocking thing from this case was the level of parasites and diseases transmitted amongst all those cats.”

Dr. Brayshaw explained regular vaccination can almost 100% prevent diseases the cats were battling.

“It definitely is heart wrenching to see those situations, but it’s one that it literally is what we’re here for and what we’re trained to do,” he said.

The Humane Society is urging people to speak up about animal cruelty because one call can lead to a rescue.

“There will people that will jump in with a bunch of love and a bunch of heart and try to help as many animals as they can and if they don’t have those resources on the back end, they’re sometimes going to cause more suffering,” Dr. Brayshaw said.

Jensen faces four felony counts and one misdemeanor count of overwork/mistreat animals-torture. She was charged via summons and is not currently in custody. Her first court appearance is set for Nov. 8.