A Vandergrift woman and her daughter each face 33 animal cruelty and neglect charges after a state humane officer accused them of improperly caring for 11 cats and then abandoning them at a shelter.

Callie Jo McCluskey, 51, and Katherine McCluskey, 18, of 37th Street, each were charged with 11 counts of cruelty to animals, 11 counts of failing to provide shelter and 11 counts of failing to provide food and water.

They face preliminary hearings on the charges before District Judge James Andring on Feb. 23.

State humane officer Christina O’Donnell said she began investigating the pair after receiving a report that 11 cats were abandoned at Champion’s Crusaiders Rescue shelter in Parks Township, according to a criminal complaint filed in support of the charges.

O’Donnell said the shelter provided her with security video showing the McCluskeys driving to the facility on River Road and abandoning the cats. A vehicle at their home matched the one being driven in the video, she said.

The officer said she also received a screenshot of a Facebook post made by the elder McCluskey “admitting to the crime.”

O’Donnell said she went to the McCluskeys’ home on Nov. 16 and spoke with Katherine McCluskey, who denied being the person seen in the video, the complaint said.

The officer said McCluskey came out of the house with two dogs that appeared to be healthy but there was a rabbit on the home’s front porch without water or proper shelter and a cat in the driveway that appeared to be suffering from exposure to the cold.

Later that night, Callie Jo McCluskey called O’Donnell to say that she and her daughter had “rounded up” 11 cats they had on their property and took them to the shelter “because it’s getting cold out,” the complaint said.

She told the officer that most of the animals were the offspring of a cat she began caring for last spring that “was permanently pregnant” and another cat she took in during September. The remains of two kittens were found on the home’s front porch, the complaint said.

McCluskey told O’Donnell that the cats were dropped off at the shelter in two covered cages with food and water along with a bag of litter and extra food, according to the complaint.

Amber Phillips, who owns the shelter, told the Tribune-Review that the cats were outside for more than 13 hours on one of the coldest nights of the year before staff discovered them.

The overnight temperature in the Pittsburgh area on Nov. 14 dipped to 36 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

The abandoned animals were checked out and put up for adoption by the nonprofit, no-kill shelter, which has been struggling financially because of an increase in the number of animals being taken in and a drop in donations.

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