Following the discovery of around 100 cats, both dead and living, inside his feces-filled home over the weekend, officials charged an elderly widower from Long Island with a number of animal cruelty offenses on Tuesday.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Suffolk County detained 75-year-old Stephen Glantz for allegedly maintaining the swarms of pets in appalling conditions.
On Saturday afternoon, first responders removed 28 dead cats from a house on Westminster Drive in Bohemia. Three adult cats had to be put down by veterinarians after 69 more cats, including eight kittens, were discovered alive, SPCA chief Roy Gross reported.
“About two dozen cats were in the freezer,” he said in an interview.
“Floors covered in feces, soaked in urine, the floors were actually spongy. The smell from urine was very overwhelming to say the least. One of the investigators ran out vomiting from the smell.”
The SPCA received accusations of potential animal mistreatment in the house where Glantz and his late wife lived for 30 years, which sparked the investigation last week.
According to Gross, the house is no longer livable.
According to neighbors, the reason the cats were drawn to the run-down property for years was that Glantz and his wife provided food for the numerous cats who eventually made their way inside.
However, Glantz was left to deal with the swarm of cats by himself after his wife passed away a few weeks ago.
According to Gross, he faces nine charges of animal cruelty and nine counts of failing to give detained animals enough food and water.
Although it is unlikely that he will receive a severe punishment if found guilty on all counts, each count is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum term of one year in prison and/or a $1,000 fine.
If found guilty, Glantz would be put on a registry that would bar him from possessing a pet for five years, according to Gross.
For further treatment, all of the cats have been moved to the Islip Animal Shelter.
When a Post reporter approached Glantz in his car outside the residence on Sunday before his arrest, he refused to comment on the appalling conditions.
