Tuesday morning, the woman who kept 237 cats inside a storage facility she called Sacred Vision Animal Sanctuary pleaded no contest to violating an Horry County ordinance.
The cats were seized by Horry County last March after PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, complained to 15th Circuit Solicitor Greg Hembree about the conditions inside the shelter run by Elizabeth Owen.
The county charged Owen with violating the county's Care and Treatment of Animals ordinance.
Owen's attorney, Greg McCollum, appeared on behalf of Owen, who pleaded by affidavit instead of attending Tuesday's court session.
Judge Margie Livingston sentenced Owen to 30 days of public service. Owen has 45 days to complete that sentence. Livingston said she lessened the sentence, which could have included jail time and a monetary fine, because Owen did not mean to do harm.
After the cats were seized last March, veterinarians euthanized 107 of them because of their medical conditions.
101 of the cats were treated and offered up for adoption once they were healthy.
Horry County released 29 of the cats and a dog back to Owen after Horry County's veterinarian examined them. Owen said they were her personal pets.
