A North Huntingdon man is forbidden from owning or keeping any animals while he is under court supervision in a case in which 73 cats were rescued from his home.
Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio on Thursday sentenced Matthew Jacobs, 48, to one year less a day to two years less a day in the Westmoreland County Prison followed by seven years of probation, according to a sentencing order.
Jacobs has served about a year of the jail sentence since his arrest in October 2020 and will be paroled to home electronic monitoring. He told Bilik-DeFazio the problem started to grow at the Leger Road house after his mother died.
“I wish it would’ve never got this bad,” he said. “I am not an animal hater at all.”
Animal rescue officials testified in November that the 73 cats rescued were living in a state of misery. They were able to save 65 of the felines. The remains of nine others were found. Jacobs pleaded guilty then to 25 felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.
Police were trying to find Jacobs in August 2020 on an unrelated warrant. When they arrived at his home, they noticed flies around the front door and a strong ammonia odor, according to court papers. When police found Jacobs elsewhere, he told them he had stopped staying at his home because it was overrun with cats.
The felines were rescued by New Kensington-based Frankie’s Friends in September 2020.
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Ranger said the conditions the animals were living in were horrific, and many of the felines were in an advanced level of starvation.
“That is the equivalent of a Holocaust camp survivor,” she said.
Ranger asked for a state prison sentence because of the magnitude of neglect and abuse the animals suffered.
Jacobs claimed in court Thursday that he tried to get help with the animals, but was unsuccessful.
“It got out of hand. And once it got out of hand, I could not do any more,” he said.
Jacobs was ordered to pay $5,140 in restitution to Frankie’s Friends. He had been free on bond at various points since his arrest, but it was revoked recently after new charges were filed against him this month in Allegheny County. He is accused of driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license March 12 in White Oak.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.