TACOMA, Wash. — A Pierce County woman faces 11 counts of animal cruelty after authorities found dozens of cats, dead and alive, inside a U-Haul truck outside a Tacoma motel on Nov. 7, according to court documents.

Naomi Erma Harrison, 39, was charged Monday in Pierce County Superior Court with 10 counts of first-degree animal cruelty and one count of second-degree animal cruelty, after an investigation that began with a welfare check at the Motel 6 on South 76th Street. After arriving, officers discovered 73 cats, including 10 deceased, confined to the back of the vehicle showing signs of severe neglect, officials said.

"In three crates along the right wall of the truck box dozens of cats were found and some appeared deceased," the responding officer said in court documents. "The decease

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