Someone complained about Rhonda Goss' 44 cats, so all but five have got to go.

Goss, 48, daubs at tears when she thinks about saying goodbye to any of them.

There's Dale, who is big, black and imperious. There's Baby Doll, who's partial to men. There's Patches, tawny and white. That's to name just a few.

Goss must get rid of most of her cats or face fines for violating a Manheim Township ordinance that limits pet owners to five grown cats, dogs or a combination of each. She refuses to have any euthanized.

"I'm an absolute wreck over this whole thing," said Goss, a real estate agent who said she wasn't aware of the pet ownership law.

Goss had 44 cats when she and her fiancé, Tom Groff, 41, were informed by the township last month that they were in violation. Since then, Goss turned to Facebook for help and has found homes for three. As of Monday, three more were spoken for.

The township has set a Dec. 21 deadline for Goss to get down to five.

"If she doesn't show progress, I'll have to take her to the district justice," warned Samuel Maurer, assistant zoning officer. He investigated after someone he won't name complained.

In 12 years on the job, Maurer said he recalls only two other cases of people with so many cats.

Goss, who has lived in a four-bedroom, single-family home at 2025 Robindale Ave. since 2001, said she doesn't know who complained to the township. She said the cats never leave the house and they are well fed and cared for. She has the males neutered and none of her cats are bred.

"She's real conscientious," said Joyce Harris of 2023 Robindale Ave., who has been Goss' next-door neighbor for 11 years. "She makes sure the cats are fed."

Harris said she has seen cats enjoying an overhead catwalk inside Goss' screened-in porch, but until recently she didn't know how many Goss had.

Another neighbor also was surprised by the number of cats.

"I would have guessed only three or four," the longtime neighbor said. "There's no odor, no mess, no noise. I never had any issues."

Elizabethtown veterinarian Dr. Fayez Awad said that while he doesn't recommend people have as many cats as Goss has, he said she does take good care of them, spending $2,000 at his office this year alone.

"Sometimes she brings five or six cats at a time," Awad said. "She cares about anything minor. She will not wait until it is major."

Goss' love affair with cats began when at age 17 she adopted a feline named Zappa. Since then she has always owned cats, except for one year in the mid-1980s when her husband got rid of her three cats without her permission. That marriage didn't last.

The mother of two adult children, Goss said she had about a dozen cats when she moved to Robindale Avenue 11 years ago. They came from pet shops and farms. An abused cat her daughter, Sheryna, brought home was pregnant. "That was six more," Goss said.

More recently, the number of cats exploded when she started finding litters of kittens bred by strays who frequent the fields behind her house.

"I just don't want them out there breeding," she said of her decision to raise the strays' kittens. She has given some cats away over the years, but only to people she trusts will be caring owners.

"I would never recommend (having so many cats) to anybody," Goss said. "It's a lot of work."

She said she cleans 12 litter boxes weekly, and each week she buys three 18-pound bags of cat food and three 40-pound bags of cat litter.

She said having no more than nine cats would be ideal.

Her cats' exposure to a viral infection called feline infectious peritonitis complicates Goss' plan to find homes for her pets. Although only a small percentage of exposed cats go on to develop the disease, there is no treatment, according to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine website. Goss wants those who adopt her cats to be aware of the problem.

Facebook account holders can view photos of Goss' cats at facebook.com/rhonda.lebergoss.

Those interested in adopting can contact Goss by email at rsbgos106238@gmail.com or by calling 717-538-5664.

jhawkes@lnpnews.com