Hoarding 21 cats in storage unit
Nashua, NH (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Oct 4, 2008
County: Hillsborough
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Charles Adams
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Police have an arrest warrant for a Hampton man who they say kept cats in deplorable conditions in a storage unit.
Charles Adams, 46, was notified he is wanted on 17 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals but has yet to turn himself in, according to authorities.
Police said Adams is also a suspect in a similar case in Milford where more than 60 cats were found living in a storage unit in similarly deplorable conditions.
On Oct. 4, police and the animal control officer went to Uncle Bob's Self Storage on Policy Street for a report of cats living inside a unit.
While looking for the cats, police first came across a large artillery shell. The New Hampshire State Police Bomb Squad was called to remove it.
Once the search resumed, authorities found 13 cats and removed them from the 10-by-20-foot unit. Eight more cats have since been found, police said.
The cats were turned over to the custody of the Salem Animal Rescue League for care and adoption.
Case UpdatesPolice say a man wanted for animal cruelty in Salem is the same man who was living with scores of cats in a Milford barn two years ago.
Charles Adams, 46, of Hampton, has been charged with 17 counts of animal cruelty; there is a warrant for his arrest.
Adams is considered a suspect in the 2006 Milford case, but he was never charged, or even named, because police at the time said he was cooperating. The case resulted in a massive rescue effort of more than 100 cats by the Animal Rescue League in Bedford and the Humane Society of Greater Nashua.
Earlier this month, Salem animal control officer Kelly Demers said two women, who rented a self-storage unit, noticed that a cat was looking out of a space over the door of an adjacent unit.
"We thought we were dealing with a cat that strayed in there," Demers said. "The manager opened the door and found it loaded with items and debris."
Demers searched the unit for what he thought was one cat, and on Oct. 6, he came across an artillery shell that had to be removed by the State Police Bomb Squad.
After the shell was removed, Demers resumed his search and found "quite a few" cats, all alive and in fairly good shape, he said.
Fifteen cats were sharing the 10- by 12-foot unit, and Demers said the smell of ammonia was very strong and there were flies. He said police have no idea why the artillery shell was in the unit.
Animal rescue workers in 2006 had to wear masks to remove the cats in Milford because the stench of cat urine was overwhelming in the large barn-like structure, which was being used as a storage facility. Police never released the location of the facility. It was described as a case of animal hoarding, which is when well-meaning, but mentally ill, people keep acquiring animals in the belief they are saving them.
Maureen Prendergast, animal cruelty officer for the Animal Rescue League in Bedford, told The Cabinet that part of the reason charges were not brought in 2006 was the large number of animals involved, and a court case would have meant 10 months or more of holding the cats as evidence.
In 2006 "some of the cats Mr. Adams took with him, and some went to the Nashua Humane Society, and we took 90 out," she said. "There were a lot of kittens with severe respiratory conditions" that had to be rehabilitated before they could be adopted, she said, and she spent about two months caring for them.
Prendergast called animal hoarding situations "heartbreaking" and said the condition has a "very, very high recidivism" rate.
"One of the biggest battles is making sure it doesn't start up again," she said. "With several of my past clients, I follow up to make sure things don't get out of control."
Prendergast said people who hoard animals believe they are doing good.
"When I introduce myself (as an animal rescue officer) they say, 'I rescue too,' " she said.
The 15 Salem cats are taken to the Salem Animal Rescue League for care and adoption. | Source: Nashua Telegraph - Oct 30, 2008
Update posted on Oct 29, 2008 - 11:54PM |
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