Evansville, Indiana – A “house of horrors” was discovered in a Mulberry Street house in Evansville. According to the police, 18 cats, many dead, some living and suffering from dehydration and starvation, were in the home occupied by Martin L. Haugland, 65.
Officers who responded to the home were met by the overwhelming stench of ammonia – dead kittens and cats were packed inside a freezer and the house was full of maggots and “brown matter.” One of the officers threw up after entering the squalid house.
Haugland professes his innocence, claiming the cats all belonged to the person who resided at the home before him – that individual recently died. But the authorities say otherwise. Officer Abbi Fahse, with the Evansville Police Department’s humane unit, said Haugland had established residency in the house.
“Even though (the cats) didn’t physically belong to (Haugland), he still lived in that house for an extended period of time, which makes him just as responsible as (the homeowner) — which if (he) were still alive, he’d face the same charges. He still had just as much control as (the homeowner) did, to the cats,” reports USA Network.
The horrific discovery resulted in a slew of misdemeanor charges. Haugland if facing 10 separate counts of cruelty to an animal – amazingly, he was not charged for the eight dead cats and kittens stuffed in the freezer because their cause of death is unknown.
(stock image of kitten via Pixabay)
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