On December 2, 2005, Arizona Humane Society officials discovered more than 90 dead cats inside a west Phoenix man's home near 85th Avenue and Palm Lane.
The residence owner, Scott Antunes, could face multiple counts of animal cruelty and neglect, said Angela Stringfellow, spokeswoman for the Humane Society.
Technicians found 92 dead cats - all of them individually sealed in plastic bags - inside a freezer that had been broken for more than a year. They also discovered four dead cats in the backyard and 35 live cats, most of which had to be euthanized, Stringfellow said.
"There didn't even look like there was electricity in the house, and there were feces and maggots everywhere," Stringfellow said. "Neighbors had been complaining about the smell for quite some time. The cats were in all states of decomposition."
Stringfellow said the Humane Society had been trying to get into his house for five months, but Antunes had avoided their efforts. The Humane Society will perform necropsies on the cats to determine whether they died of natural causes or foul play.
Case UpdatesOnly one of the 131 cats discovery inside a West Phoenix home has survived.
Ninety-six cats and kittens were found dead yesterday _ 92 sealed in plastic baggies inside an inoperable freezer in Scott Antunez's house. The Arizona Humane Society also found 35 cats alive, which were taken in for evaluation.
However, Humane Society spokeswoman Angela Stringfellow says all except one kitten were euthanized because they were uncontrollably wild and attacked animal medical technicians. The dead animals were found in a town house near 83rd Avenue and McDowell Road.
Antunez faces six misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty. | Source: KVOA News - December 3, 2005
Update posted on Dec 3, 2005 - 8:28PM |
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