St. Anthony cat hoarders charged with animal cruelty

A husband and wife were charged with animal cruelty and other misdemeanors Tuesday stemming from the removal of 125 cats from their home in St. Anthony last month.

The husband, Bob Saladis, 58, said Tuesday night that he looks forward to telling his side of the story and is upset that the media "blows it all out of proportion."

"They act like we were Iraqi terrorists or something," he said. "It is just something that happened."

He and Cheryl Saladis, 53, were each charged in Hennepin County District Court with misdemeanor and gross-misdemeanor maltreatment of animals and two public nuisance charges.

When police entered their mobile home at 2501 Lowry Av. on Feb. 9, they were overwhelmed by the stench from mounds of debris and feces. The home was packed with dolls and cats, officials said.

Police and Animal Humane Society workers removed 125 cats that were euthanized.

Keith Streff, a senior humane investigator, said Cheryl Saladis fit the profile of an obsessive-compulsive animal hoarder. He said the society, based in Golden Valley, removed 72 cats from the couple's home in Coon Rapids in 2002.

"She spent three weeks in the psych ward," he said. "I spent three weeks in my shop."

He said that they have since found a new home and that treatment helped his wife a little.

"She just likes animals," he said. "Sometimes everybody gets carried away with something." But his wife wants to change, he said.

Streff said the charges are "the most prudent way for a city to address these issues. Once in the judicial system, an individual can be afforded the mental health assistance needed."

The mobile home was cleaned out, but St. Anthony housing code officials found it unsafe because animal wastes had rotted the subflooring, said Duane Hudson, an environmental health supervisor for the Hennepin County Health Department. The county has ordered the structure removed by month's end, and the Lowry Grove Mobile Home Park has agreed to split removal costs with the couple, he said.