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A Tempe man abandoned an apartment full of cats last month, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
Almost all of the cats somehow survived without food, water, or air conditioning, but all of them didn’t make it — one cat was found dead in a kitchen drawer.
A neighbor had taken in a lot of the cats before deputies were notified, so nine of the suspected 15 cats in the apartment were taken to an animal hospital. As you can imagine, all of them were severely dehydrated and malnourished.
Meanwhile, the cats did quite a bit of damage over the month that they were locked inside the apartment — to the tune of about $7,500, according to MCSO.
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As you can see from the photo above, the apartment’s a total hell-hole, and is covered in feces.
MCSO found that a man named Bradley Oliver was the last tenant of the apartment, which is located near Hardy Drive and Second Street in Tempe.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Oliver admitted to housing and providing water and food for the cats through the month of June. He said he was trying to find homes for them, but just ended up abandoning the apartment, with all the cats inside, in the beginning of July.
Oliver was booked into jail on nine counts of animal cruelty, and has since been released on a bond of $1,800.
Inmates will care for the cats, according to MCSO.
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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
