Sure, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has overseen some big cases, but has any been as important as Arm & Hammer v. Clorox: Battle of the Kitty Litters? Rakoff wrote, " The court agrees with [Arm & Hammer]'s expert that it is highly implausible that eleven panelists would stick their noses in jars of [cat] excrement and report forty-four independent times that they smelled nothing unpleasant." more ›

One of the zaniest police blotter items of the summer comes to us courtesy the NY Post, which reports on a roommate fracas fueled by "festering feline feces." Oleksandr Ilyin, 35, reportedly returned home to his Bath Beach apartment Wednesday evening to find a garbage bag full of kitty litter. Police say that upon seeing the scat he snapped, and dumped the dirty litter all over his two roommates' bedrooms. This is where your average disgruntled roommate would crack open a Tecate and sit down for a night of Metal Gear Solid I, but not our Mr. Ilyin. more ›

The remaining 71 cats were removed from a Chester, NJ home yesterday, where the NJSPCA originally found living in squalid conditions—rooms filled with garbage and feces. The Star-Ledger reports that Morris County Emergency Management Coordinator Rick Loock praised the homeowner, Wanda Oughton, for being helpful, "These are healthy cats, you could even say fat cats. They did not seem to be suffering from any abuse. The lady (Oughton) seemed to be feeding them well. And I want to emphasize that she was unbelievably cooperative today, helping us catch the cats and put them in travel carriers."The cats are being housed in a temporary shelter and will soon be examined; it's hoped they can be adopted out to new homes (the NJSPCA website will have photos of adoptable cats). Oughton faces 186 counts of animal cruelty in both criminal and civil summonses. more ›

It turns out that the N.J. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found 93 cats (previously, it was thought there were almost 80) living in disgusting conditions in a home in the posh suburb of Chester Township, NJ. The Daily Record reports, "Police found the cats covered in feces in rooms throughout the spacious home at 22 Farm Road. Pictures provided by the SPCA depict floors, couches and tables littered with waste, while microwave and conventional ovens were crammed with garbage." Some of the NJSPCA photographs are above; the NJSPCA site has more, including a disturbing one of a bathtub filled with cat poop. more ›

The Star-Ledger reports that dozens of cats were found living in unfit conditions in a million-dollar home in Chester, NJ: "All 12 rooms of the two-story house on Farm Road were laden with feces and urine, authorities said. In some areas, piles of excrement reached as high as 2 feet. In one of the bathtubs, a mound of feces measuring 8 inches thick coated the bottom, authorities said." The fire department was called to ventilate the house, which might need to be condemned because it's so toxic. Anonymous complaints had been made to the SPCA last week and the authorities found almost 80 cats, plus a dog, and will likely charge owner Wanda Oughton with 80 counts of animal cruelty. SPCA superintendent Frank Rizzo said, "The smell was horrific. This is not a place you can live in. I don't know how anyone could survive in that." Twenty-two cats were taken to a vet for observation; the others were left in the home as the SPCA coordinates living arrangements for them. more ›