PHOENIX (AP) — A man has been accused of animal cruelty for abandoning 15 cats in a Tempe apartment for more than a month.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s officials say the cats were severely dehydrated and malnourished because the apartment didn’t have working air conditioning. One dead cat was found inside a kitchen drawer.
Detectives seized nine of the 15 cats from a neighbor who had rescued the animals from the apartment before sheriff’s officials were notified.
Bradley Oliver was booked into jail on suspicion of nine counts of animal cruelty and then released after posting $1,800 bond.
Detectives say Oliver told them that he provided food and water to the cats throughout June. But Oliver says he abandoned the cats entirely in the beginning of July when he couldn’t place them in homes.
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