MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) -Animal control officers and police in California have rescued some 77 cats, which were kept in cages by a couple of pet "hoarders," the Sacramento Bee reported.
When a SWAT team entered a house in south Sacramento on Wednesday morning, they found animal feces caked to the floor. Rescuers soon discovered a separate garage, where cat cages were stacked floor to ceiling and felines of all sizes and colors roamed and cowered, the paper's website said.
The Sacramento Bee added that the hardiest investigators said they had rarely seen, or smelled, anything like it.
A city animal welfare official said it was a classic case of animal "hoarding."
Sacramento animal care services manager Penny Cistaro said the couple's neighbors had filed a number of complaints over the course of at least a year, but the homeowners had refused to allow investigators inside.
When a court finally issued a search order, veterinary specialists, shelter workers, animal control officers and police converged on the home and spent hours rescuing the cats, which were taken temporarily to the county's animal control center, the paper said.
Property inspectors condemned the house as being a health hazard, and police said the owners would be charged with felony animal cruelty and could go to jail.
In answer to the claim, Paul and Kathy Franco insisted that they took care of their animals, most of which appeared healthy and friendly.
"Go pick on someone else! We have the records! We took care of our cats! I'm not abusing them!" the Sacramento Bee quoted Paul Franco as shouting.
Kathy Franco said she was unsure how many cats were in the house and the garage, but said they were like family members to her and her husband, the paper's on-line edition said. She helped round up some of the cats, and when the day ended with 77 cats taken into custody, traps were left for the others.
In accordance with local law, the couple will be allowed to keep only seven of the cats, while the others will be medically evaluated and then potentially be available for adoption, the website said.
According to the Humane Society of the United States, researchers have recently begun looking into compulsive hoarding of animals and objects and the phenomenon's link to psychological problems.
