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The “worst animal hoarding case” a Florida sheriff has ever seen is now expanding as more animals are being recovered.
Some of the rescued animals already have been reunited with owners who said they’d given up hope of ever seeing them again.
Gail Giustino, a 77-year-old mail carrier, was arrested July 20 after authorities found more than 100 animals held in feces-filled cages in her Stuart home. She’d been “collecting cats” she found along her mail route, Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said.
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With no air conditioning or ventilation, the home was “probably 110 degrees” on the late July day when the animals were removed, Budensiek said in a news conference on July 20 outside Giustino’s home.
“We were coming out here thinking maybe 15, 20, 30 cats,” he told reporters, as people wearing white hazmat suits carried out cages holding dozens of cats and at least a dozen small dogs. There was “a foot of animal feces” in parts of the house, Budensiek said.
Some of the caged cats were held fast in feces that had hardened like concrete. Staffers had to smash bricks of feces from around the cats’ legs to allow them to move, Sarah Fisher, spokeswoman for the Humane Society of Treasure Coast, told Fox News Digital.
“When we cracked the door…the stench was unreal,” Budensiek said. “The air was stifling hot.” He went on to say, “She never walks the pets. She never brings them outside of the house. They’ve been confined to that animal jail really for however long she’s been hoarding these pets.”
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Investigators faced an “overwhelming” smell of “animal urine, feces, and ammonia,” an odor that wafted outside the house, authorities said. The “deplorable” conditions inside the house left “no safe path of entry due to excessive debris, animal feces, and urine,” investigators reported.
The odor inside the residence was so severe that it “presented a potential health hazard to responding personnel,” arrest records show.
Since 2014, local animal control had issued “up to 65 civil citations” to Giustino for the conditions she’s kept animals, the sheriff said.
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And code enforcement officers helped her add air-conditioning units, Budensiek said. But investigators found that those units were not working. And “we haven’t been out here checking on her for the last 10 years,” he said.
Giustino could have been charged with up to 160 counts of animal cruelty, Budensiek said. Instead, she was charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty and one misdemeanor count of confinement of animals without sufficient exercise. She was released on a $50,000 bond.
“We truly believe that Gail thinks she’s doing the right thing,” he said. “But she’s doing it the wrong way.”
He said, “The goal of arresting her was to be able to seize the animals, to save them from death and try to get them the help that they need.”
They also hoped the process would lead to mental health treatment for Giustino, he said. She did not respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
Giustino started working for the U.S. Postal Service in 1997 and is still employed, said Debra Jean Fetterly, a USPS spokesperson for South Florida.
“We are aware of the situation,” Fetterly told Fox News Digital. “The Postal Service does not publicly discuss personnel matters.”
‘They know they’re safe’
Days after the arrest, Martin County officials were able to trap and bring in three of four cats that escaped during the rescue effort at Giustino’s home.
And a friend surrendered five more small dogs Giustino allegedly left in her care, Fisher said. By July 29, the humane society had received 108 animals from Giustino’s home.
“We unfortunately are anticipating more of Gail’s animals to be coming in the coming weeks” from her friends’ homes, Fisher said. “The sheriff’s looking into that right now.”
“We don’t know really what to expect, but we’re prepared.”
Meanwhile, staffers have struggled emotionally, she said, because the animals “were in pretty terrible shape.”
“They were really just shut down. Some of the cats were catatonic; they wouldn’t even move. They were traumatized.”
But now, they’ve started showing signs of healing.
“It’s actually filling our hearts right now because they have been coming out of their shells,” Fisher said. “These cats that weren’t even lifting their heads up are now meowing and seeking attention, and I think they know they’re safe.”
The 12 tiny dogs recovered from Giustino’s home showed signs of improvement faster, she said.
They were thin, flea-covered, missing hair because of neglect, and were suffering with dental disease, Fisher said. They range in age from 2 to 8, she said, and many appear to be Yorkshire terriers, also known as Yorkies.
“Dogs are just different,” Fisher said. “They were happy as could be. They knew they were saved and they were happy. … It’s really giving us hope at the shelter.”
Further bolstering spirits is the enthusiastic support from locals, Fisher said.
They’ve flooded the shelter with requests to adopt the neglected animals. They’ve brought pizzas, pastries and other treats for workers.
“It’s been beautiful to see,” she said.
A big part of the project involves trying to arrange for reunions with potential owners.
On Friday morning, July 24, hearts overflowed with hope outside the shelter.
Dozens of people from all walks of life queued up in the blazing Florida heat, all waiting to see if their missing pets were among those rescued.
“We had 50-plus people, very, very eager right when the doors opened at 10 o’clock,” she said.
“They were very wonderful and patient. And one by one, they were all walking out crying because their animals weren’t with us.”
Shelter employees had hoped for joyful reunions.
“There were grown men crying; there were kids crying. It was so emotional,” Fisher said. “It was really, really hard.”
By the end of that Friday, two more pet owners rejoiced over their unexpected reunions.
And staffers hope there will be more in the coming days as word spreads about the recovered animals, she said.
Any of the dogs and cats not claimed eventually will be available for adoption. There’s no timeline yet for that.
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“We want to make sure that any of these owned animals are going to be going home with their owners, and we’re not accidentally going to be adopting them out.”
Linh Nguyen called her reunion with 6-year-old Patchy a clear answer to prayer.
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He’d disappeared from her yard in early January.
“I’d been praying for his return for seven months,” Nguyen told Fox News Digital.
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As she prayed, she said she told God she knew it was just “a little thing, just a cat.”
But her faith told her that anything was possible.
She posted fliers offering a $5,000 reward for Patchy’s return. She rode her bike through the neighborhood late at night calling his name until she was hoarse. And she kept praying.
“If You do a miracle and bring my cat home,” she pleaded in faith, “I will tell everyone it is You.”
Then she saw a news report about the rescued cats. She had a strong feeling her missing pet might be among them. And when she stepped into the Humane Society, he saw her right away, she said. She heard meowing that got progressively louder.
“I couldn’t see him, but I recognized his voice.”
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Now, Nguyen said, Patchy is thriving at home again and is enjoying walks on a leash.
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She’s relieved to know that others are being reunited with their pets, she said. And she’s glad to know that Giustino “will get the help that she needs.”
“This,” Nguyen said, “is a pure miracle.”
