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Deputies: Woman, 84, Covered Self With 50 Cats To Keep Warm

Heater Did Not Work In Home, Deputies Say

POSTED: Friday, November 28, 2008
UPDATED: 5:40 pm EST November 28, 2008

About 50 cats, 20 ducks and 15 turkeys were taken from a New Smyrna Beach home, and a woman was arrested after her 84-year-old mother told authorities that she kept warm by covering herself with the animals, according to Volusia County sheriff's deputies.

Mary Bosket, 54, was arrested on a charge of neglect to the elderly after her mother was found on Thanksgiving Day at the Glencoe Road home, which was in deplorable conditions and did not have a working heater, deputies said.

The elderly woman was apparently placed in the home against her will by Bosket, Voluisa County sheriff's deputies said.

A deputy responding to the residence reported that there was an overwhelming smell of cat urine, and that animal feces covered the floors in nearly every room. The deputy accompanied a Department of Children and Families representative to the home to assist with a well-being check because DCF could not locate the 84-year-old.

Two dead cats were also found in a freezer, where they were being stored until they could be cremated, Bosket told sheriff's deputies.

Bosket's mother was using a faulty oxygen machine and suffers from congestive heart failure, deputies said. She told authorities that she had lived at a nursing home, but now lived in the Glencoe Road home alone. She said that Bosket stopped by occasionally to help care for all the animals.

In one of the bedrooms, the deputy said he found caged turkeys, although one was wandering freely around the room. In another bedroom, ducks were found, along with an empty kid's swimming pool. A dog was in a third bedroom, where its feces had piled up, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

Several geese, ducks and chickens were found in the back yard, deputies said.

The only toilet in the home did not work and the sinks would not drain water, deputies said.

Bosket was called and arrived at the home, and she admitted to knowing about the home's conditions, but had no explanation as to why it was that way, deputies said.

Bosket was arrested and transported to the Volusia County Correctional Facility in Daytona Beach. Her mother was placed in the care of DCF.

Animal control officers took custody of the animals.

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