Animal abuse investigation underway at Cary home involving hundreds of rats, reptiles, dogs, cat
Police in Cary were "rescuing and removing" hundreds of rats, dogs, lizards, a turtle and a cat from a home as part of a possible case of animal cruelty at the residence, authorities told WRAL News Tuesday.
No arrests have been made, but officials mounted a large operation at the one-story home located in the 200 block of Rose Street.
Several officials in white hazmat suits were seen entering and leaving the home with animal cages and kennels, many of which were stacked outside the house.
According to officials, there were:
- 252 live rats and 5 dead rats.
- 2 dogs.
- 1 cat.
- 2 lizards.
- 1 turtle
Allan Cain, the Town of Cary's public safety director, said someone asked town officials to conduct a welfare check on the animals.
That prompted a visit on Monday by animal control officials, who apparently determined that they should be removed.
"This resident had a significant number of pets," Cain said. "It was not a good situation (or) a safe situation for the pets."
As animal welfare officials left the home, they stacked several kennels outside.
In one kennel, there were several of what appeared to be large white rats in one of them.
A neighbor who asked that WRAL News not identify them said a woman in her 50s lives in the house and had kept the animals and reptiles.
It was not immediately clear why the resident kept the animals or how long she had them.
According to people in the neighborhood, there were several foul odors coming from the home.
