Couple with 111 cats charged with neglecting child

MUNCIE – A couple who lived in a Daleville house with 111 cats have been charged with neglect of a dependent.

The charges filed in Delaware Circuit Court 3 against Steven M. Wood, 51, and his 47-year-old wife, Angela R. Lock-Wood, are Level 6 felonies carrying up to 30 months in prison.

The neglect counts stem from the living conditions in the house – at 13908 W. Daleville Road – for a child in the Woods’ care, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Judi Calhoun said.

That youngster was placed in the care of Child Protective Services on Aug. 9, the day Muncie Animal Shelter officials became aware that scores of cats were inside.

Authorities had been called to the house that day after another occupant, 75-year-old Maxine D. Lock – apparently the mother of Angela Lock-Wood – died there, of what were believed to be natural causes.

According to a mortgage foreclosure suit filed this week, Maxine Lock was the owner of the house, which had been condemned prior to her death.

The Woods have not been arrested. According to court records, summonses directing them to appear at an Aug. 29 hearing in Delaware Circuit Court 3 were mailed to the Daleville Road address.

A criminal conversion charge filed in January against Steven Wood is pending in Anderson City Court.

By Aug. 11, authorities believed they had captured all of the cats in the one-story house – 103, not including five kittens born to one of the Daleville cats at the shelter.

Make that 103 cats removed from Daleville house

However, shelter superintendent Phil Peckinpaugh said still eight more cats were later found at the Daleville property, increasing the total to 111.

Peckinpaugh said about 50 of the Daleville cats have been placed with rescue groups and an estimated 30 others have been adopted.

However, with a steady stream of other cats coming to the shelter, the total feline population still presents a challenge.

“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Peckinpaugh said. “We’ve received a lot of support from the community, and other support groups.”

The superintendent said some of the Daleville cats had tested positive for feline leukemia and feline AIDS. Having those ailments, particularly feline AIDS, does not mean the cats could not live for several more years, he said.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. Follow him on Twitter: @DouglasWalkerSP.

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