This is a very unusual animal abuse case and it has people scratching their heads as to how Dennis Carlson is going to defend himself in a criminal court after he refused a plea deal and pleaded not-guilty after nearly 400 cats were found at his property, 194 of which were dead.

Dennis Carlson. Photo: Des Moines Register.

The circumstances point to a classic case of cat hoarding gone badly wrong due to extended neglect of the animals but he doesn’t agree and there will be a trial beginning November 20.

I hope the trial is reported online because for me it will be interesting to see how he manages to avoid a guilty verdict. However, we can’t pre-judge and I won’t.

It is the first time I have encountered one of these cases where the hoarder decided to defend his/her behavior at trial.

When rescuers went into his home they had to wear the usual hazmat suits and respirators as the place was hazardous to human and animal health with faces, urine, carcasses and garbage strewn around the place.

How is Carlson going to wriggle out of it? Or perhaps he simply wants his day in court and to make the prosecutor work for a conviction. He just might be a stubborn so-and-so who knows that he is committed a crime and hurt these cats. Or he might have a perfect justification for what was found.

SOME CAT HOARDING CASES:

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Excellent collage of cats being removed from uninhabitable home

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Picture of 130 ginger cats from one mother in one room apartment

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No crime for woman who hoarded 105 cats in apartment

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How do you stop ‘things getting out of control’ at cat hoarding situations?

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Can you tell from their face that they are cat abusers?

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