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Woman's Body Discovered in Squalid Home With 30 Feral Cats

By Phillip Caulfield, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Credit: Tim Hacker/ East Valley Tribune

MCSO SWAT members suit up to enter a home in which the owner was found dead and contained numerous cats, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 in Mesa.

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    MCSO SWAT deputies look inside the garage of a home in which the owner was found dead and contained numerous cats, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 in Mesa.

    (Tim Hacker/East Valley Tribune)

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August 22, 2012 Updated Aug 22, 2012 at 1:27 PM PDT

It took Maricopa County sheriff's deputies two days to pull 65-year-old Maria Cimino from her trash-stuffed Mesa, Arizona home -- where she was discovered Sunday after neighbors reported not seeing her for some time, according to local reports.

The interior was so dense and sickening that sheriff's deputies had to wear goggles, breathing masks and protective clothing while clearing the home, and were forced to switch shifts every 15 minutes.

Workers faced oppressive, triple-digit temperatures, a local news station reported.

Cimino died of natural causes, authorities said Tuesday. It wasn't clear how long she had been dead.

At least 31 cats lived in the filthy home, and the interior reeked of the animals' feces, authorities and neighbors said. Eleven kittens were among the cats rescued. The animals were taken by workers from the local Humane Society.

Cimino's neighbors said they knew she was a hoarder, and regretted not calling the police earlier.

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