A Howard judge reluctantly sentenced an elderly woman to six months in jail Thursday for hoarding more than 75 dead and dying cats in her Columbia town house and later violating his orders to allow Animal Control inspections at the residence.
Ayten Icgoren, who was convicted of 21 animal cruelty charges, asked to do community service rather than serve time in the Howard Detention Center.
“I’m an old person, and I believe we have to respect our old people and not punish them by putting them in jail,” the 82-year-old woman said.
Retired Howard Circuit Judge J. Thomas Nissel appeared hesitant, pausing to clear his voice before imposing 18 months with all but 180 days suspended.
“Quite frankly, society has reached its limit,” Nissel said.
“It’s come upon this court to give you some time in jail. I do that with reluctance, and if you’d been a younger person, it would be a much longer term.”
Icgoren, a petite woman with a thick Turkish accent, responded by bashing the court system and accusing the prosecutor and county probation agent of being “dishonest.”
The agent, Maureen Kirby-Smith, had testified that Icgoren made excuses to delay Animal Control’s inspections, which were court-ordered to prevent Icgoren from owning any more cats.
Icgoren took the stand in her defense, saying she wasn’t given enough notice to be home for inspections.
When asked about a sickly cat found in her residence during a Nov. 20 inspection, Icgoren said it belonged to her daughter.
The testimony was interrupted by a fire alarm that forced everyone to evacuate while Howard firefighters investigated a strange odor and ventilated the building.
Icgoren later was escorted out of the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies who didn’t bother handcuffing her as she stopped to tell a deputy she was going to write a book.
Defense attorney Arthur Reynolds declined to comment.
Prosecutor Devora Pontell said the horrific facts of the case warranted jail time despite the defendant’s age.
“While some people think animals don’t deserve the same treatment as humans, they also don’t deserve to live in those conditions,” she said.
The animal abuse was brought to light in August 2006 when Icgoren’s neighbors on Swan Point Way complained of insect infestations and a horrible stench. Animal Control found boxes of decayed cats in the town house, along with piles of feces and urine-soaked floors.
“The stench is still there,” said Joe Wasserman, a neighbor who said he wanted the judge to enforce the inspections and have the house cleaned.
“I’m real sorry that she got jail time, but she kept thumbing her nose at the law. Maybe we’ll finally have peace in our neighborhood.”
