Two Women Plead Guilty After 80 Cats Found in Car

(Reuters)

BENNINGTON, Vt. – Two New York women have pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges after 80 cats were found in two cars in Vermont.

They were arrested last October. At the time police said they were driving from shelter to shelter trying to put some of the cats up for adoption.

Sixty-two-year-old Bertha Ryan and 55-year-old Regina Millard, who are sisters from Troy, N.Y., each pleaded guilty Tuesday in court in Bennington to 13 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to an animal.

The Bennington Banner reports that the two women received 18-month deferred sentences. As part of their sentences, they must undergo mental health treatment and they are forbidden from having animals.

Officials have found homes for most of the cats. Some were euthanized.