Animal Cruelty

Officers from the Pennsylvania SPCA investigating an animal-hoarding case removed 13 cats Wednesday from a house in the city's Frankford section, officials said. Four dead cats were also taken from the house, in the 1600 block of Granite Street, the PSPCA said. The homeowner, a woman in her 60s, has been charged with animal cruelty, the PSPCA said. - Robert Moran

Question: My husband and I are good friends with a couple whose 10-year-old son appears to be a bully in training. This boy and our son were once good friends, but have thankfully drifted apart as the other boy grew meaner. I'm talking shoots-rabbits-in-his-backyard mean. Hitting-and-taunting mean. This isn't just our opinion. Other parents have shared their thoughts with us about the boy. The problem: We still value the friendship of his parents, who are oblivious to their child's ways.

Sketch released in sex attack 13th and Dickinson streets in South Philadelphia Police released a composite sketch yesterday of an assailant who attacked and sexually assaulted a woman on July 18 and might be responsible for a second attack the same week. The suspect is described as a 25- to 30-year-old Hispanic man, 5 feet 9 with a dark complexion and medium build. He is clean-shaven and at the time of the attack was wearing all black clothes, sneakers and a black Adidas cap with white lettering.

An animal-welfare raid on a South Philadelphia rowhouse Tuesday afternoon yielded eight dead dogs, a live alligator, a dead iguana, and some roosters and turtles. Police initially responded to the house, on the 900 block of Shunk Street, because of reports that a man who lives there was running around naked outside, Pennsylvania SPCA spokeswoman Wendy Marano said. Officers discovered the animals inside the house and called the PSPCA. The man, who faces animal-cruelty charges, was taken to a local hospital.

A nose count of dead animals carried out of a debris-filled house in South Philadelphia yesterday had to be upped to 13 when an alligator - barely alive in a glass tank filled with a small amount of smelly water - died after humane agents from the Pennsylvania SPCA brought it to the shelter. Twelve other animals were carried out alive from the debris-filled home on Shunk Street near Percy, said PSPCA spokeswoman Wendy Marano. They included four dogs, four turtles, two rats and two roosters.

A "MENAGERIE" of animals, both living and dead, were pulled from a house in South Philadelphia yesterday, including a living alligator and a dead iguana. It was among the more bizarre cases of animal hoarding with which the Pennsylvania SPCA has ever dealt, officials said. It started with a report of a naked man sitting outside his home on Shunk Street near 9th, and also included a local news reporter being attacked on live TV. Fox 29's Chris O'Connell reported that he and his cameraman had been attacked by the homeowner's son. The man was arrested at the scene.

UPDATE: Fox 29 reporter Chris O'Connell was attacked on live TV while reporting on a bizarre South Philadelphia hoarding incident on the "10 o'clock News. " His attacker was arrested at the scene. O'Connell sent out a message on his Twitter account Tuesday night saying that he was OK. "Thanks for all the thoughts on the incident tonight. Photog Dave Edwards and I are ok. Never a dull moment in TV news," he tweeted. A "menagerie" of animals, both living and dead, were being pulled from the house on Shunk Street near 7th, including a living alligator and a dead iguana.

A pet carrier stuffed with six ailing cats led Pennsylvania SPCA officers to check on the owner's South Philadelphia rowhouse, where they found five dead felines and 16 sick cats living in deplorable conditions. By 9 p.m. Sunday, the officers, who enforce state animal-cruelty laws, were still searching the cluttered, bug-infested house in the 2100 block of South Chadwick Street for more animals, SPCA spokeswoman Wendy A. Marano said. The cats' owner was being treated at a hospital Sunday night, and animal-cruelty charges were being prepared against her, according to police and the SPCA.

In what appears to be a case of hoarding, animal protective services officers removed 24 dogs and six cats from deplorable conditions at a Coatesville-area home Tuesday afternoon, said Rich Britton, a spokesman for the Chester County SPCA. Britton said the officers, acting on a tip, went to a residence in the 400 block of South Bonsall Road, where they found the animals, many of which showed signs of flea infestation, skin disease, and malnutrition. He said the female owner's name would not be released until animal-cruelty charges were filed, which is expected Wednesday.