Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
It was a foul stench thatlted animal service officers to this property in Southern California.
Now called the "house of horrors" after a particularly gruesome discovery inside. Hundreds
of snakes, but many of them dead
Just in one room alone we had 56 dead snakes, and 12 alive, and that's only one room. And
that took us nearly three hours to clear.
Police were expecting to find as many as 500 once they had finished their search. The work
was anything but pretty. Among the dead reptiles, there were rats and mice in the rooms and
the freezer packed with dead ones, brought in as food for the snakes. There were little
clues for neighbours who saw a house that looked well maintained from the outside with
a manicured lawn. The same attention was not employed inside and it was the nauseating
smell that drew attention.
Police have called this a case of animal hoarding. A teacher who had lived here since his mother
died three years ago has been arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty.
The surviving snakes have been handed over to a welfare organisation with hopes they
will be rehomed in more caring environments.