Bayonne woman is given three more weeks get rid of the stench of her pets that has drawn fines and neighbors' complaints in apartment house

Tuesday, November 02, 2010
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Bayonne woman neighbors say is harboring a smelly stable of cats and dogs inside her Kennedy Boulevard apartment has three more weeks to get rid of the animal stench emanating from her unit.

Debra Wolford, of Kennedy Boulevard and West Fourth Street, appeared before Bayonne Municipal Court Judge Frank Carpenter yesterday to answer a public health nuisance complaint that was issued on Sept. 28. Wolford has acknowledged housing three dogs and more than nine cats.

At a municipal court hearing on Oct. 19, Carpenter had given Wolford until yesterday to get rid of odors coming from the apartment and to remove most of the animals.

Carpenter fined Wolford $539 for the same problem on Sept. 20, after city health inspector Simon Sturgeon served Wolford with a health nuisance violation earlier that month.

Wolford's attorney, John Appello, said yesterday that his client has reduced the number of cats from nine to five, the number of dogs from three to two, and has removed some of the carpeting in the apartment.

Wolford testified yesterday that she is working with animal rescue groups to find homes for three of the remaining cats.

But Wolford's landlord, Michael McLinden, who inspected the apartment Friday, painted a different picture for the court.

The apartment "door itself seem to smell of urine," McLinden said, adding that one bedroom "still smells of urine and or animal feces" and carpets in the bedrooms are "filthy."

Clearly frustrated, Carpenter told Wolford he was trying to resolve the issue without going to trial but that she was making it hard.

"Animals don't want to live that way. Animals generally do not urinate and defecate where they sleep," Carpenter said. "I need the animals gone and the place cleaned up.

"The carpet has to be cleaned, and I don't mean vacuumed. It's got to be taken out to a carpet cleaning place or thrown away."

Carpenter said in court he didn't think additional fines would motivate Wolford to resolve the problem. "I fine her a lot of money and that's the end of it and she does nothing," he said.

Setting the next court date for Nov. 22, Carpenter gave Wolford three weeks to deal with the problem.

Carpenter then said he is transferring the case to Judge Cheryl Scott Cashman because he felt "prejudiced" by what he has heard.

"Ms. Wolford is an animal lover, which is a very beautiful thing," Appello said after the hearing. "She is trying to find a good homes for the rest of the animals, and I respect that."

"more than nine cats"? that could be anything from ten to a hundred. this woman is clearly a hoarder.

Neighbors say Bayonne cat woman has created a smelly nuisance

Sunday, October 31, 2010, 8:16 PM
Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal

Michael Dempsey/The Jersey Journal
Debra Wolford was fined $539 because her neighbors complained about the smell from her apartment. Wolford has at least nine cats. Pictured here are her dog "Charlie" and her cats "Selma", "Marabell", and "Spooky."

A Bayonne single mom who is living with three dogs and more than nine cats in her two-bedroom apartment on Kennedy Boulevard is in municipal court tomorrow because her neighbors say the building stinks because of her and her animals are a nuisance.

But the third floor resident believes she is being persecuted by neighbors for being an animal lover.

Debra Wolford has to appear before Bayonne Municipal Court Judge Frank Carpenter tomorrow to answer for a city nuisance complaint that was issued Sept. 28.

This will be Wolford's third time appearing in court on nuisance violations.

Her first appearance was on Sept. 20 when she was slapped with a $539 fine. Then she appeared on Oct. 19 on a nuisance violation, the trial for which was scheduled for tomorrow. She still hasn't paid the fine.

Walter, a neighbor who lives opposite Wolford and attended the court hearing on Oct. 19, said the smell of cat urine emanating from Wolford's apartment is overpowering.

"You have to smell it" to understand how bad it is, said Walter, who didn't want his last name written.

Walter said Wolford has so many cats that when he once peaked inside her apartment, her carpet looked "alive."

Dorothy Devenuta, a fellow tenant who lives directly below Wolford and also attended the Oct. 19 hearing, said the smell permeating through her ceiling is unbearable.

Wolford acknowledges that she has more than nine cats, but declined to say exactly how many. She said she also changes the cat box every night. "I love my little critters," Wolford said. "I don't this is fair, I really don't."

At the hearing on Oct. 19, Wolford's attorney, John Appello, told the judge that Wolford was trying to comply with the nuisance order by removing her smelly carpet and trying find homes for all but two of the cats.

But he said at the same hearing that none of the cats had been given away and the carpet had not been removed.

He added, most shelters are full and Wolford didn't want to give the cats to a pound where they might be destroyed.

Carpenter described Wolford at the hearing as "non-cooperative" and dropped an offer to reduce the fine if she complied with the order.

Last week, Wolford said she has removed the carpet and has found a home for one of the cats.

"It will take time to find homes for these animals," Wolford said. "The rescue shelters don't have the space."

Animal lover, or nuisance? Neighbor taken to court

Monday, November 01, 2010
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Bayonne single mom who is living with three dogs and more than nine cats in her two-bedroom apartment on Kennedy Boulevard is in municipal court today because her neighbors say the building stinks because of her menagerie, and her animals are a nuisance.

But the third floor resident believes she is being persecuted by neighbors for being an animal lover.

Debra Wolford has to appear before Bayonne Municipal Court Judge Frank Carpenter to answer for a city nuisance complaint that was issued Sept. 28.

This will be Wolford's third time appearing in court on nuisance violations.

Her first appearance was on Sept. 20 when she was slapped with a $539 fine. Then she appeared on Oct. 19 on a nuisance violation, the trial for which was scheduled for today. She still hasn't paid the fine.

Walter, a neighbor who lives opposite Wolford and attended the court hearing on Oct. 19, said the smell of cat urine emanating from Wolford's apartment is overpowering.

"You have to smell it" to understand how bad it is, said Walter, who didn't want his last name published.

Walter said Wolford has so many cats that when he once peeked inside her apartment, her carpet looked "alive."

Dorothy Devenuta, a fellow tenant who lives directly below Wolford and also attended the Oct. 19 hearing, said the smell permeating through her ceiling is unbearable.

Wolford acknowledges that she has more than nine cats, but declined to say exactly how many. She said she also changes the cat box every night.

"I love my little critters," Wolford said. "I don't this is fair, I really don't."

At the hearing on Oct. 19, Wolford's attorney, John Appello, told the judge that Wolford was trying to comply with the nuisance order by removing her smelly carpet and trying to find homes for all but two of the cats.

But he said at the same hearing that none of the cats had been given away and the carpet had not been removed.

He added most shelters are full and Wolford didn't want to give the cats to a pound where they might be destroyed.

Judge Carpenter described Wolford at the hearing as "non-cooperative" and dropped an offer to reduce the fine if she complied with the order.

Wolford said she has removed the carpet and has found a home for one of the cats.

"It will take time to find homes for these animals," Wolford said.