JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) – A day after arresting a couple for animal cruelty when 21 cats and four dogs were found living in their home, authorities made another odd discovery – the frozen carcasses of 29 pets.
Arthur Giles, 64, and Lynne Giles, 50, face at least 30 counts of animal cruelty, county animal shelter director Debbie Dobbs said.
Police returned to the Giles home Wednesday after they were tipped by a neighbor who reporting seeing a man enter the house overnight to release live cats from the washer and dryer, where they apparently had been hidden before the couple’s arrest.
Authorities returned with a search warrant Wednesday and found five live cats in the house. They also searched two freezers and removed 28 frozen cats and one frozen puppy.
City building and fire officials said they are seeking to condemn the property for its unsanitary condition.
The couple pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges in 1999 for keeping 48 cats in the house and have a similar record in Winslow, Maine, authorities said.
Dobbs said the two may be what psychologists call “hoarders,” people obsessed with saving stray animals from being killed.
The Gileses remained in the Washington County jail Thursday. Bond was set at $5,000, and a hearing is scheduled for June 19.
AP-ES-06-12-03 1637EDT
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