NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- An 84-year-old woman was found Thanksgiving Day living in deplorable conditions in a home near New Smyrna Beach along with about 50 cats, 15 turkeys, 20 ducks and a dog, Volusia Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said, adding deputies learned she had apparently been living in the home against her will, having been set up there by her daughter.
A deputy responding to the residence reported that there was an overwhelming smell of cat urine, and that animal feces, new and old, covered the floors in nearly every room. The daughter, Mary Bosket, was arrested later and charged with neglect of the elderly, Haught said.
A deputy accompanied a Department of Children and Families representative to 2470 S. Glencoe Road at approximately 10:14 a.m. to assist with a well being check because DCF had been having trouble contacting Mary Phillips. Phillips was found at home and agreed to talk to the deputy on the porch.
The deputy noted that she was using a faulty oxygen machine, and learned that she suffers from congestive heart failure.
Phillips explained that she had lived at a nursing home, but now lived in the Glencoe Road home alone. She said that Bosket stopped by every now and then to help
care for all the animals. But Phillips said she doesn't like living there because nobody pays her any attention. She then gave the deputy permission to enter the
home.
The deputy saw cats roaming throughout the house, except for in the bedrooms, Haught said, adding in one bedroom the turkeys were caged, but one was wandering freely around the room.
In another bedroom, the ducks were found along with an empty kid's swimming pool. A single dog was in a third bedroom where its feces had piled up for quite a while. In
the backyard there were several geese, ducks and chickens. The deputy also noticed that the home had no heat. When asked about this, Phillips said that she tried to
keep warm at night by getting the cats to pile up on her. Finally, it was discovered that the only toilet wasn't working and the sinks wouldn't drain water.
Bosket was then called and asked to come to the home. When she arrived, she admitted to knowing about the home's conditions, but had no explanation why it was that way, Haught said.
She said that sometimes she stays with her boyfriend in Daytona Beach, and other times she stays at the home with her mother, Haught said she told deputies. However, the deputy found no evidence that she ever stayed at the Glencoe Road home, he said. The 54-year-old Bosket was arrested and
transported to the Volusia County Correctional Facility in Daytona Beach.
Animal control officers took custody of the animals. During this process, two dead cats were found in the freezer, Haught said. He said Bosket told deputies the cats had died earlier in the week and that she had stored them in the freezer until she had a chance to get them
cremated.
DCF took control of Phillips' care.