Residents of a Montgomery County community are shocked to learn a neighbor let more than a dozen cats starve to death inside her parent's home.
Authorities made the gruesome discovery on Saturday after several residents complained of an unbearable odor coming from a townhome located along the 800 block of Whitpain Hills Drive in Whitpain Township, Pa., police say.
Inside the home, officials found 13 dead cats in various stages of decomposition, authorities say.
"One of the plumbers broke in the window and noticed a real small odor, climbed out about 20 seconds later, running out covered with fleas head to toe," next door neighbor Steve Vereb told NBC Philadelphia Monday.
Investigators did not find any signs of food or water left for the felines.
Neighbors say they haven't seen the unidentified woman who was living at the home for months. She apparently left to take care of her sick parents, they say.
The management company that runs the community says the home is owned by the woman's parents. It is unclear who owned the cats.
The woman told Montgomery County SPCA officials she arranged to have a someone take care of the cats while she was gone. Still, Whitpain Townhsip Police plan to bring forward animal cruelty charges against the woman.
