05:49 PM Mountain Standard Time on Wednesday, November 10, 2004

By NewsChannel 3 / azfamily.com staff

This afternoon part of an entire wing of Maricopa County Animal Care & Control in Mesa was dedicated to dogs and cats belonging to just one owner.

On Tuesday, officers were called to a small Mesa apartment where Kendall Leebelt, 36, lived along with her 65 cats and three dogs.

Neighbors finally called the Animal Welfare League after they could no longer stand the stench coming from inside the apartment.

"And the results of the tests say that there was actually more ammonia inside the apartment than actual oxygen," said Sgt. Chuck Trapiani of the Mesa Police Department.

Police and Animal Welfare took the dogs and 50 of the cats to the shelter.

More than a dozen more cats were in need of medical attention.

"There were some unhealthy animals inside that apartment and the Animal Welfare League took charge of those animals and are planning on nursing them back to health," Trapiani said.

Neighbor Cindy Will said Leebelt loved animals but may have gone overboard.

Will has heard the story before.

Two years ago, Leebelt lived in a trailer and Will lived next door.

She said she had Leebelt evicted because of the smell from the 30 or 40 cats she said lived next door.

"I couldn't even step out of my home on this side or that side. It was awful," Will said.

Leebelt will be charged with 68 counts of animal abuse and city health code violations.

Animal control officers hope she'll sign her animals over so they can be adopted.

"If she is a good-hearted person and wanted to care for those animals, obviously, a small apartment isn't a place for that large amount of animals," Trapiani said.