2nd House Full of Cats Linked to Va. Woman By Leef Smith Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 14, 2005; Page A01 Fairfax County authorities last night removed more than 100 dead cats from a second home owned by the family of the woman charged this week with animal cruelty when police found hundreds of cats at her Mount Vernon home. Neighbors of the townhouse in the 9900 block of Lakepointe Drive in Burke called Fairfax animal control officials Tuesday after hearing about the cats, many of them dead, that had been found at Ruth Knueven's house on Ludgate Drive, about 18 miles to the southeast in Mount Vernon. Police and neighbors said that Knueven does not live at the Burke address but that she visits often and is a familiar face in the neighborhood. Andrew Sanderson, an animal control official, removes a cat from a Burke townhouse. More than 130 dead and 40 live cats were found, police said. Andrew Sanderson, an animal control official, removes a cat from a Burke townhouse. More than 130 dead and 40 live cats were found, police said. (By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post) From the Post * Transfer of Cats to Burke Prompted Search * Cops: Woman Had Over 420 Cats in Two Homes * 2nd House Full of Cats Linked to Va. Woman * 211 Cats From Home In Fairfax Euthanized * Strong Odors Expose N.Va. House's Secret * Va. Police Remove 246 Cats From Two Homes Neighbors said authorities were denied entry to the townhouse Tuesday. About 6:30 p.m. yesterday, dozens of police and rescue workers returned with a search warrant. By the time they left, about four hours later, they had removed 51 plastic bins containing 134 dead cats from the townhouse, said police spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings. Thirty-eight living kittens and nine adult cats also were recovered, she said. Neighbors said they saw Knueven sitting in her white Toyota outside the townhouse. No charges had been filed late last night in connection with the dead animals found at the Burke townhouse, police said. In recent days, Knueven, 82, was charged with three misdemeanor counts stemming from her failure to care for and properly dispose of cats that were found in her Mount Vernon area home. Earlier last night, police filed charges of cruelty to animals and obstruction of justice in connection with the Mount Vernon case. Since Saturday, animal control officers have removed 306 cats -- 87 of them dead -- from the Mount Vernon area home, which Knueven shares with her husband. In an interview yesterday, Knueven said that she had been "overwhelmed" by the cats in her two-story, cream-brick colonial in Mount Vernon. They had taken over the garage. They were embedded in the chimney and family room furniture, multiplying until the downstairs was infested. "I just couldn't keep up," she said. She maintained that the strays had been sustained by a neighbor who left cat food in his garage to feed his own cat. The family has been ordered out of the Mount Vernon house until repairs are made. Officials said that rooms occupied by the cats were covered with cat waste and that the kitchen cabinets and plumbing were damaged by the animals. Knueven said the blame was hers, calling the situation "my problem." Looking back, Knueven said her involvement with stray cats began slowly as she plucked litters of kittens from the street. Many of them had been killed, she said, explaining that she put their bodies into plastic containers in her garage. She said she meant to dispose of them but never got around to it.