CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — Humane officials on Tuesday removed four dogs and as many as 45 cats from a Connellsville house.
Officer Autumn Fike of Connellsville Police said the house was covered in feces.
"There were 25 to 45 cats, maybe more, and four dogs living in filth," Fike said. "It's absolutely cruddy in there."
Amid an odor of urine that was noticeable from at least a block away from the two-story, wood-frame house, two workers with the Fayette Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals rounded up the cats and dogs.
Neither of the workers would comment on the animals' conditions. A woman who answered the phone at the society's facility in North Union said additional information was not immediately available.
Fike identified the house's occupants as Richard Stewart and Antoinette Wills. Neither could be reached for comment.
"Each of the people here, a man and a woman, (will be cited) with one count for each animal in the household," Fike said. "The conditions here are horrific."
Tom Curry, health/code enforcement officer for the city, declared the house uninhabitable. He said he went to the house to investigate reports of a foul odor. As soon as the occupant opened the door, he said, he knew there was a problem.
"I could smell it from the front door," Curry said. "It's unfit for human habitation."
A man who lives next door, Richard Kerr, said he and other neighbors have endured the foul odor for at least a year.
"You couldn't sit outside at night," Kerr said. "You couldn't swim in your pool."
Kerr said he was glad to see humane officials removing the dogs and cats.
"Animals shouldn't have to live like that," Kerr said. "You can't have that many pets."
This article was written by Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE