19 cats rescued, 1 dies in ‘worst case of hoarding I’ve ever seen’

Video by HudsonCountyView.com, via YouTube

Authorities have rescued 19 cats — and found one deceased — after making their way through what an animal control officer called "probably the worst case of animal hoarding I've ever seen."

When officials entered a home on West New York's 51st Street, Geoff Santini said, they found the cats had entirely taken over the house. The dining room table was covered in feces, he said. The bathroom didn't work. Cats were burrowing through holes in the wall to get from upstairs to downstairs — and to escape officials in protective suits who chased after them.

"The smell was overwhelming," said Santini, the lead investigator on the case. "We put Tyvek suits on, had masks on, and we came out with the suits covered in fleas and discolored from feces and urine."

Santini said he became aware of the home after getting a call Sunday from a resident who, walking by, noticed a few cats in the window and blinds that were torn apart "and scratched like something out of Freddy Krueger." His office got a call from PETA as well, he said.

He went to the home, but no one answered the doorbell, he said. Through the window, he could see cats running through the home — and even the smell from outside was excruciating, Santini said.

The next day, he came back with several officials — from the town's building department, health department, OEM and police department, as well as county protective services personnel, "just in case there was any mental illness or something that needs to be addressed right away," Santini said.

What they found inside as 76-year-old man living in deplorable conditions, he said. The man agreed to surrender the cats and get them proper care, Santini said.

"He thought he was saving them," Santini said. "He didn't know what kind of harm he was doing."

The cats were eating off feces-covered floors, Santini said. They were covered in fleas. They had no cat beds, and the litter boxes were overrun for months, he said.

One cat had a bad eye infection. Another's tongue was sticking out the entire time. And some had respiratory infections, Santini said. They're still being examined by a vet to get a better sense of their condition, he said.

"These were basically outside cats that had turned the inside of this home into an outside," Santini said.

When officials moved a stove, they found a dead cat behind it, he said.

The home was deemed uninhabitable, and PSE&G cut the home's gas and electric Santini said — both to keep the resident from returning until it's brought up to code, and because cats may have cut into service lines.

The resident is being assisted by Hudson County Protective Services and staying with his brother, Santini said.

Once the cats are evaluated, spayed and neutered, they'll be taken to a no-kill shelter, he said. Though the cats seemed feral — Santini stressed they were agitated and nervous as his team captured them — many eventually be eligible for adoption.

At that time, they'll be made available through the Bergen County Protection and Rescue Foundation, which can be reached at 201-945-0649.