At least 30 dead cats were found in bags hanging in trees in an abandoned lot in New York.
According to The New York Post, the bags were discovered around 10 am Thursday morning when a crew from the sanitation department arrived to clean up they lot and the surrounding woods. This is a yearly practice for the sanitation department, but they did not expect to find the numerous bags containing deceased cats in various stages of decomposition.
After discovering the animals, the sanitation workers called the proper authorities and law enforcement and the ASPCA arrived shortly after.
“They were placed in small shopping bags, the plastic bags that you might get from an A&P or a ShopRite, and then they were hung from a tree,” Ernie Lungaro, director of humane law enforcement at ASPCA, said.
According to The Journal News, the bags in trees didn’t raise any alarms with people who lived in the area because the woods where the cats were found are commonly used as a dumping ground for garbage.
"That place is always dirty so when you see a bag there, it's nothing new," Guy John, 49, who lives across the street from the woods, said.
It was also stated that the stench that should have accompanied the decomposing flesh of the cats was minimal.
Authorities believe the cats had been there for some time because of the varying states of decomposition. They also believe the cats were dead when they were placed into the bags because they would have been able to claw their out had they been alive.
"It's something very odd. It’s a lot of cats to be disposed of in a year,” Lungaro said.
Necropsies will be scheduled for the cats to determine their manner of death and Yonkers police are asking for anyone with information to come forward.