Woman pleads not guilty in animal cruelty case

LINCOLN – A LaGrange woman from whom authorities took 49 sick cats that had to be euthanized pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a cruelty to animals charge in District Court.

Mary Delgizzi, 44, did not speak during her brief court appearance, according to court officials, and could not be reached for comment afterward.

Judge Kevin Stitham accepted her plea, appointed attorney Cathy Rogers Lufkin of Lincoln to represent her, and set a trial date of May 23 at 1 p.m. according to court officials.

Lufkin said she hadn’t had much of a chance to speak to Delgizzi but had a feeling she would not change her plea and the case eventually would go to trial. Delgizzi has 21 days to file a jury trial request. If that happens, the case will be transferred to Bangor.

Dan Wood, an assistant district attorney for Penobscot County, said he might entertain, but doesn’t expect to make, any plea bargain offers in this case.

“We believe we have the evidence to substantiate the charge and we view it as a serious case,” Wood said Tuesday. “It’s a case we will try to resolve without a trial, but that’s up to them, not us.”

Animal Welfare Program officials described Delgizzi’s mobile home as “a giant litter box” with layers of feces and cat urine covering the floor and a pervasive stench. Humane society agents entered the trailer Feb. 8 on a criminal search warrant obtained from a previous visit.

The 49 cats were split up between the Bangor Humane Society and the Kennebec Valley Humane Society in Augusta, with 20 going to Bangor and 29 going to Augusta. Efforts to save them failed.

All of the cats were euthanized because they had ringworm, upper respiratory infections and-or feline leukemia, including a mother cat and all of the several kittens she had, shelter officials said Tuesday.

“The kittens were so infested with ringworm that to have let them live would have posed a health risk,” said Sadie Franck, an adoption counselor at the Bangor Humane Society. She did not recall how many kittens were euthanized.

“The cats were in pretty bad shape,” Roxanne Brann, executive director of the Kennebec Valley Humane Society, said. “Some that had significant tumors and hair loss and skin loss, so for us it was pretty difficult to deal with.”

In response, “we’re just trying to educate people on how many pets is too many,” said Brann, who believes that Delgizzi “got in over her head and couldn’t pay to take care of all of the animals that she continued to get.”

Cruelty to animals is a Class D crime. If convicted, Delgizzi could be sentenced to up to 364 days in jail and fined up to $2,000.

A cruelty to animals charge filed against Robert Venti, 54, who was living in the trailer with Delgizzi, was dismissed by the District Attorney’s Office on Feb. 23, court officials said.