Couple's 40 to 50 cats trigger concerns

A Bonners Ferry couple, whose 400 cats were taken from their Bonner County home in 2006, are now living in Boundary County, where they are getting complaints from neighbors for having 40 to 50 cats.

Ed and Cheryl Criswell, who have lived north of Bonners Ferry for seven months, say they run a non-profit animal rescue mission.

As the operators of Voice of the Animals, a non-profit in good standing, the Criswells said they take in strays and attempt to find them homes. The couple also attempts to have the felines spayed or neutered.

“We are professionals in the business,” Ed Criswell said. “We’ve lived with cats for so long. We know what we’re doing.”

Every cat has a name, and Criswell also knows the habits of his cats.

“The only thing they give is love,” he said. “You can’t ask for more than that.”

The Criswells are advertising the free cats and are not taking in any more.

“Our doors are closed. We’re not taking in any more cats right now,” he said.

The Humane Society of the United States in September 2006 seized 400 cats from the Criswells’ home in Blanchard. The couple entered Alford pleas to animal cruelty charges, which means they did admit to no wrongdoing, but concede they would be convicted if their cases went to trial.

The Humane Society claimed the cats were living in a half-dozen ramshackle trailer homes on the property and more than half of the cats had to be destroyed due to severe illness.

The prosecution told the court he didn’t believe Criswell and Perkins intentionally harmed the cats. They attempted to care for these animals and it overcame them.

In Boundary County, the couple has two camp trailers and a motor home set up in a triangle on a rented property. The Criswell use their own money to pay for the cats’ care. Cheryl Criswell gets SSI and Ed is a seasonal worker at a tree farm in Naples.

The couple goes through an 18-pound bag of dry cat food a day. They also have 20 to 30 litter boxes, which are cleaned daily.

“I use sawdust,” Ed Criswell said. “It kills the smell. I get about 10 bags a week of litter that goes to the dump.”

Boundary County Sheriff’s Office has responded to complaints. No one from the department returned a phone call to The Herald.