Cops find 76 dead cats and 150 live ones in Maryland couple's makeshift shelter that reeked of 'cat urine and ammonia'
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: A Maryland couple has been arrested and charged after authorities found 74 dead cats and 150 alive ones in horrific conditions at their makeshift shelter home that reeked of cat urine and ammonia.
The couple, 53-year-old Garriott J Cox and 51-year-old Pamela Arrington, first came under investigation after the Baltimore County Animal Services (BCAS) received complaints from the Maryland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) about their business — a shelter called Colony Cats of Bird River and Beyond.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the complaints stemmed from Arrington's regular visits to the Maryland SPCA with her cats, where vets noticed they were in terrible conditions with a "foul indescribable odor".
She also brought in kittens who were in "incredibly bad shape" and refused to admit them into the organization's shelter program, claiming she could care for them better.
BCAS also received separate complaints from residents who lived close to their property at 10322 Bird Lane Road who said the foul odor from their house could be smelled "from down the street" and raised concerns about a "potential hoarding situation".
Following an investigation, officers paid a visit to their residence and were "immediately met with very high levels of cat urine smell and ammonia", stated a police report. Animal Services Officer Franczkowski wrote that his "eyes and nose immediately started to burn and run."
In the garage, they found dog crates, a cat condo, traps, and transfer cages, housing as many as five cats in each one and which had more feces in them than litter. Some cats had no water in their bowls or no bowls at all.
Based on their findings, Animal Services officers executed a search and seizure warrant for the garage on October 9 and found cages stacked two stories high with starving cats that were desperately trying to claw their way out.
In total, they found 76 being housed in small cages, with almost half suffering from conjunctivitis, infections, leukemia, ulcers and upper respiratory infections. They also found 15 dead cats, some of which had been stored in white styrofoam boxes that were placed on top of cages with live cats in them.
On October 17, they executed a second search warrant, this time for the home, and discovered another 76 live cats, as well as 59 dead ones, three of which were found inside a kitchen freezer. A vast majority of the others were stored in cooler boxes that had a "foul smell" and were "covered with flies, gnats, and maggots".
Cox and Arrington were indicted on 63 counts of aggravated animal cruelty, animal cruelty, and failure to provide food, drink and care on November 4.
Both were released after they posted their $50,000 bail, and are said to be planning a lawsuit against the police so they can have some of their animals returned to them.