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Nov 17, 2006 5:37 pm US/Central
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Dozens Of Dead Cats Found In Hickory Hills Home
Cats Discovered When Police Went To Deliver A Violation For Not Mowing Lawn
by Suzanne Le Mignot
HICKORY HILLS, Ill. (CBS) ―
A disturbing discovery was made inside a southwest suburban home as police officers found more than 30 dead cats in a Hickory Hills house.
Veteran officers said the smell almost made them pass out.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports that the homeowner is in police custody.
The homeowner is expected to be charged with animal cruelty. She told police she liked to rescue cats and felt embarrassed to ask for help, when caring for the animals became too overwhelming.
Thirty-five cat carcasses were scattered across the floors of the Hickory Hills home. Police say some of the remains were side by side, leading them to believe, those animals were comforting each other in their final hours.
There are also cat feces everywhere. In one room, it was up to a foot high. There was a dead bird, too.
Those who live in this community, where the house has been condemned, are stunned.
"I think it's terrible. When I read it in the paper, I got real choked up and upset, I mean, that they let the house get that bad," said Hickory Hills resident Del Havel.
A nearly 20-year veteran officer says this is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty he has ever seen. Police say the homeowner was gone for about five or six months.
She would stop by about two times a month to feed the animals. She told police as long as four months ago, there were dead cats in the house.
Police say the smell inside the house defied imagination. Some got physically ill at the scene. The mail carrier, Bob Nyhanna, never noticed an odor. He thought the house was abandoned.
"I got two cats at home I wouldn't like that to happen. It's kind of sad," Nyhanna said.
Police discovered the dead cats when going to serve the homeowner a violation for not mowing her lawn.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)