On Wednesday, January 26, a Lockport, New York, man pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges stemming from his alleged abandonment of 15 cats at his apartment after he moved.
Earlier in the week, authorities searched the former home of Kim "Kevin" Veach after receiving a call from the owner of the apartment complex, according to the Niagara Gazette. When agents from the Niagara County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals searched the residence, they reportedly found "deplorable" conditions.
"You could smell the odor from outside. In one room there was 10 to 15 inches of feces that built up. You can tell the cats were trying to claw their way out of that room," Niagara County SPCA Director John Faso told the news source. "This is not something that was built up overnight. These animals lived there for months."
Faso said that during the seizure, two of the cats died because of malnutrition but that the surviving felines would be nursed back to health and put up for adoption. The Buffalo News reports that when Veach was arrested at his new residence, four dogs and six cats were confiscated from the property.