More than 100 famished cats were discovered living in squalor inside a Westchester County hoarding house where a man and woman were found dead this week, officials said.
Police were conducting a welfare check on the residents at the request of a family member inside the Cordial Road home in Yorktown Heights Monday when they were confronted with 150 cats living in filth.
The felines were trapped in every room of the home, including the walls and ceilings, Yorktown Police and the SPCA Westchester said.
Cops were unable to clear the scene until the SPCA’s rescue team removed most of the cats from the “small dilapidated home,” according to the animal protection agency.
The deceased homeowners were not immediately identified by police, but are believed to have been husband and wife.
Police said they did not suspect foul play, but the probe into the deaths was being hindered by “the sheer volume of cats inside of the residence,” Yorktown Police Chief Robert Noble said in a statement
The cats are all Abyssinian mixes who appear to have suffered “years of neglect,” the organization said.
Many of the cats were pregnant – including one that was in such distress that she gave birth on the way to the SPCA’s rescue center.
The felines were suffering from upper respiratory, eye and skin infections, malnutrition, dehydration – and some had “more severe injuries that require immediate medical attention,” the SPCA said.
All of the cats were starving and likely hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in days.
While about 100 cats were removed from the home, the rest “remain in the home because local shelters are at capacity and the residence is the safest place for them,”t Noble said.
Volunteers are feeding them and providing water.
The SPCA Westchester is calling the rescue the largest in its history.
The cats’ veterinary care and rehabilitation is expected to cost more than $40,000 and the SPCA is asking for donations.
As for the deceased homeowners, the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s office will officially determine both causes of death.
“Collectively, we determined that the death does not appear to be the result of foul play,” the police chief added. “However, no death not of natural causes is inherently suspicious.”
