Queens Hoarder Attacks Probation Cop To Protect Pet Menagerie: DA

JACKSON HEIGHTS, QUEENS -- A convicted pet hoarder who weaseled her way out of prison time for more than 100 animal abuse charges was arrested for cramming even more malnourished pets in her Jackson Heights home and attacking the probation officer who found them in a surprise inspection, prosecutors said.

A judge spared Elizabeth Grant, 50, jail time earlier this year for hoarding 67 sick, neglected animals - 55 cats and 12 dogs - inside her urine-and-feces-filled home on the conditions that she'd seek counseling and wouldn't own any pets for at least 10 years.

Almost four months to the day, a probation officer caught Grant caught hoarding 16 more animals in filthy conditions yet again, and Grant nearly sent her tumbling down a flight of stairs for it, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Per Grant's probation, the officer came to her 82nd Street home for an unannounced inspection on Aug. 29 and immediately noticed a foul odor when Grant's mother opened the door, according to the charges.

Grant began to protest the search, grumbling racist slurs and derogatory comments at the probation officer and telling her, “You can’t come in here, you don’t have a warrant, my case is on appeal, You can’t do this to me,” the criminal complaint states.

The confrontation allegedly got physical when the probation officer tried to snap photos of numerous cats on first floor that appeared to be underweight. Grant is accused of trying to snatch the officer's phone and getting in her face while saying, "Go ahead, punch me, push me, slap me."

The officer then found several seemingly underweight dogs inside a second-floor bedroom. As she was getting ready to walk down the stairs, Grant allegedly shoved her with both hands, prosecutors said. The probation officer was able to grab onto the railing to keep from falling, but in the process twisted her back so bad that she later sought treatment at a nearby hospital, according to the complaint.

The inspection prompted police and animal cruelty officers to later raid Grant's house, where they found seven dogs - three of them puppies - one cat, two guinea pigs and two rabbits living in cramped, fly-infested quarters with no air conditioning, despite temperatures upwards of 90 degrees, charges state.

Cops also uncovered two turtles and two Beta fish living inside a dirty fish tank in a bathtub.

“The defendant is accused of showing contempt for the law by hoarding animals in violation of the terms of her court-ordered probation and contempt for human life by assaulting and attempting to push her probation officer down a flight of stairs," Brown said.

"Such behavior cannot – and will not – be condoned.”

Grant was charged with attempted assault of a peace or police officer, attempted assault as a hate crime, assault, assault, attempted assault, 16 counts of failure to provide proper food and drink to impounded animal, 16 counts of criminal contempt, and 16 counts of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals.

She was arraigned Aug. 30 and has since remained behind bars on $100,000 bail. She is slated to return to court on Sept. 14.

If convicted on all charges, Grant faces up to seven years in prison.

Lead photo via Shutterstock