Alarmed by the SPA, the soldiers entered a completely unsanitary house where 22 cats, seven dogs and four mandarin birds were trying to survive in a terrible state of health.
Twenty dead cats, including 14 kittens kept in a freezer, and more than thirty other pets living in darkness and excrement were discovered in a house in Territoire de Belfort, prosecutors said Thursday.
The owner of the animals, who lived with them, was presented to the prosecutor’s office on Thursday after his custody and placed under judicial supervision pending the trial on October 24 for “retention of animal carcasses without permission”, “placing a domestic animal in a habitat likely to cause suffering” And “cruelty to animals”says state prosecutor Jessica Vonderscher to AFP.
Risk of three years in prison and a 45,000 euro fine
This 52-year-old lady, who lived in great social isolation, risks three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros. His companion will be summoned to court on the same date. The gendarmerie intervened on Monday at his home, in the town of Chaux, after being notified by the SPA (Society for the Protection of Animals), alerted by the family of the occupant of the premises. The soldiers entered a completely unsanitary house where 22 cats, seven dogs and four mandarin birds were trying to survive in a terrible state of health.
“The lady let them live and eat in total darkness, and they lived among excrement, garbage cans and garbage cans”indicated Jessica Vonderscher. “They apparently had enough to eat, but they were not cared for, they were sick and injured, sometimes unable to feed themselves, with serious psychological problems”she added, regretting one “unbearable abuse”. The animals were cared for by SPA.
Fourteen dead kittens were found in the freezer and six adult cat carcasses were in the basement. Regarding the preserved cat corpses, the resident of the premises explained to the investigators “that she cared”, according to the magistrate. The fifty-year-old, unemployed, is already the subject of another procedure for similar facts observed between 2020 and 2021 in her former residence in Giromagny (Territoire de Belfort). The bodies of nine cats, a guinea pig and a dog were discovered in his house, and three dogs, fifteen mandarins and canaries and two curled pigeons survived in the same conditions as those found in Chaux.
