Laurie Bobskill cat breeder of Munchkins

TICA cat fancier, Laurie Bobskill, 48, of Springfield, Massachusetts, surrendered 126 allegedly neglected cats to the Massachusetts SPCA in July 1996. Fifty-eight more live cats and three dead cats were removed from her home by the MSPA in October 1998. Bobskill showed Munchkins, a variety not recognized by the CFA.

In 1995, Munchkins were first recognized as a new breed in the States under The International Cat Association and are now recognised in many countries around the world

Robert Mock, of Junglesong Cattery in Rochester, Washington, in a history of the short-legged Munchkin variant of the ocelot-marked "ocicat," credits Laurie Bobskill of West Springfield, Massachusetts, as one of the "notable breeders" who established Munchkins on the show circuit.

But Bobskill, 47, a longtime reporter for the Springfield Union-News, and single parent of a 17-year-old son, turned from breeding to cat rescue circa 1992. She called ANIMAL PEOPLE occasionally to request information about cat-related matters, including how to tell animal hoarders from rescuers, and sometimes distributed free samples of ANIMAL PEOPLE at cat shows. "We thought of her as a reporter who was animal-friendly and wanted to help cats," said Massachusetts SPCA vice president Carter Luke.

In July 1996, however, Bobskill surrendered 126 cats to the MSPCA and cleaned her home at town request. The incident was not publicized. Then, on October 23, 1998, police and the Baystate Gas Company came to shut off Bobskill's gas line due to unpaid bills. Finding "feces piled against the doorway," wrote Bobskill's Union-News colleague Natasha Gural, the police called the MSPCA and city health director Albert Laboranti, who placarded the site as unfit for habitation

. The MSPCA took out 58 live cats, three dead cats, and a dog. ANIMAL PEOPLE learned of the incidents when Bobskill called on November 12, 1998, to allege MSPCA persecution. In Walpole, Massachusetts, Edmund Burke, 48, was on December 10 charged with fatally stabbing Irene Kennedy, 75, nine days earlier in a public

reference: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/99/1/hoarders.html