LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Dozens of cats were found living in an abandoned Indiana home after neighbors complained about an overwhelming smell.
This week, officers with Muncie Animal Control and Animal Care and Services were called to a home in Yorktown by the Delaware County Health Department and sheriff's department over concerns about the conditions inside.
But no one was found living at the home anymore, except for an estimated 60 to 80 cats and kittens. Animal control officials said at least two of them were not alive, and when officers got to the home they were met with an overwhelming smell. They also said all of the furniture in the home was infested with bed bugs.
Neighbors said some days the smell was unbearable.
"You had so many cats, and you open those windows and nobody could stand the smell. You couldn't even sit outside," neighbor Jerry Jackson said.
Officials said 53 living cats and kittens had been rescued as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Fox 59 News. The shelter plans on rescuing all of those remaining in the home.Â
The shelter said the cats did not belong to the homeowner, so no one has been held accountable for them. Animal control officials reportedly learned that an elderly woman who lived at and owned the home had to leave because of the conditions. The woman claimed the cats belonged to someone that was staying at the home with her.
"She had just only been coming by to feed them and wasn't even staying there as well," Ethan Browning, director of Muncie Animal Care and Services and Muncie Animal Control, told Fox59, adding that the conditions inside the home were "completely deplorable."
Browning noted that no food was found by officers who responded to the home, and that all of the food bowls were empty. Because the kittens that were found were malnourished and infested with parasites, officials assumed adult cats got to the food first. He added that the adult cats were in fairly good health given the living conditions, but were not spayed or neutered and some were dealing with ear mites and intestinal parasites.
The shelter hopes the cat owner is eventually held accountable for the conditions they say are "definitely a neglect, cruelty situation."
They won't be available for adoption until health checks are completed. The animal shelter said it is nearly at capacity and is asking for donations of food — both wet and dry — litter, blankets, beds and wire crates, as well as monetary donations for medical care. To make a donation, click here.
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