Twenty-one cats were found dead and more than 80 others were rescued at the home of a Coon Rapids woman who was charged this week with felony-level animal cruelty.
The woman, 59-year-old Jacqueline Marie Broberg, was charged Monday in Anoka County District Court with five counts, which also included gross misdemeanors for alleged animal torture and depriving the cats of food and water in squalid conditions.
Officers first investigated Broberg’s home in March 2024, when they were tipped off by a man who purchased the home on 122nd Avenue after it had gone into foreclosure, according to the criminal complaint.
At the time, the new owner observed between 30 and 40 cats inside the home without food or water, and he found the home’s interior to be covered in cat hair, feces and dried urine.
Broberg was allegedly still living in the home in January 2024, but had left by Feb. 22 of that year after she was evicted.
Responding officers found several dead cats throughout the home. Only the most ill or easily captured cats were removed on the first day due to “limited available resources.”
Five were brought to the Animal Humane Society. One of those five rescued cats, nicknamed “Lefty,” was a month-old kitten that had a severe eye infection and eventually had to be euthanized, the criminal complaint said. The four others rescued on the first day were nursed back to health.
A rescue group later came to the home to remove an additional 78 cats. A total of 21 cats were found deceased throughout the home, including one kitten that was trapped inside a mattress, according to the charges. Officials were unable to determine the cause of death due to how much the animals had decayed.
