A total of 60 cats and a pair of dogs were removed from a Connecticut home on Friday after neighbors repeatedly complained about the stench emanating from the house.
"There was feces, urine and smells, and cat after cat after cat. Fresh feces all over the floor, splattered all over the walls," Roslyn Nenninger, an officer with Wolcott Animal Control,
told Fox 61 News. "We're seeing upper respiratory infections [in the cats], we've seen ear mites and had eye expulsions."
Wolcott police Sgt. Patrick Malloy said that the homeowner, Cheryl McMurray, was trying to run a cat rescue, however the situation got out of hand, turning into a case of animal hoarding.
When police and the local animal control department entered the house with a search warrant, Malloy said the cats were in ill-health and underweight, and noted that the residence was "unlivable" for both humans and animals.
"I'd like to know how it got to the point it did, how she ended up with 60 cats in the house," said Malloy.
One dead cat was found in a freezer, and officials believe it was euthanized.
McMurray could possibly be charged with animal cruelty for keeping the animals in such conditions.
"My parents started asking to not feed them anymore so they would stop coming, but more kept showing up," said Tiffany Swan, a neighbor. "My parents started asking to not feed them anymore so they would stop coming, but more kept showing up."
After police began investigating, they learned that McMurray had been turned down at local spay and neutering clinics because the cats she presented were not healthy enough to undergo the procedures.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.