The woman convicted of hoarding more than 75 cats in her Columbia townhouse told a Howard District Court judge Thursday that she’s an animal lover, but her neighbors had a different story.

“A number of decomposed cats were left behind, deep piles of feces everywhere, urine-soaked floors, maggots, roaches and flying insects,” said Nadia Wasserman, the next-door neighbor of Ayten Icgoren, 80, who originally faced 153 counts of animal cruelty and neglect charges.

“We are sickened every time we think about what happened next door,” Wasserman testified.

Icgoren was sentenced to 360 days in jail, all of which were suspended by Judge Neil Axel, who prohibited her from ever owning or caring for any animals and placed her on three years probation with routine house checks by Howard County Animal Control. Icgoren also must pay more than $10,000 in restitution to Howard County Animal Control.

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Icgoren also has a 2003 animal cruelty conviction for mistreating cats and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in March.

“It’s clear you do not understand or recognize the nature of what has occurred... due to a mental health condition experts refer to as animal hoarding,” Axel told Icgoren.

“The chance of relapse unfortunately is extremely high, which is why regular inspections are appropriate and necessary.”

After neighbors complained several times about the foul odor and insect infestation, Animal Control officers removed 75 cats in August 2006 from the townhouse on Swan Point Way that she shared with her 50-year-old daughter Nese Icgoren. Of the 75 cats removed, 58 were critically ill and 17 were already dead, according to the police report.

Icgoren, in a lengthy plea to the judge, said her neighbors were liars who never saw the inside of her home and blamed her for the neighborhood’s roach infestation.

Neighbors who testified said that the house still reeks of urine and that the county Health Department has allowed Icgoren to clean as she chooses without any guidelines.

More than a year later, the odor still prevents neighbors from sitting on their decks or having company over for dinner.

“We cannot enjoy our home and our quality of life has diminished,” Wasserman said.

“Our nightmare has not ended with the removal of the cats.”

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com