More than 100 dead cats have reportedly been discovered in a freezer or buried in a garden at a “house of horror” in southern France.
Sixty-seven feline corpses were found in a chest freezer in a chalet next to the home and on the same grounds, it is believed.
An animal protection group, called AEPA, said it also discovered 38 cats – including 12 kittens and one pregnant adult – alive but in need of care, with some showing signs of typhus, which is highly infectious and can be fatal.
“They lived in the dirt at this… house for several years, deprived of care,” the group said.
The organisation called it a “house of horror” after making the discovery on Tuesday in La Roquette-sur-Siagne, about five miles north of Cannes.
French broadcaster BFM reported another 50 cats were discovered buried in the garden, while police detained a 66-year-old man at the address before releasing him on Wednesday.
France 3 Cote d-Azur added the man was also taken for a psychiatric assessment.
AEPA had reportedly been investigating the site since December 2023, gathering information until it felt it had enough to inform police and search the grounds.
The group claimed it was already aware of the home from previous incidents in 2019, when 58 cats were recovered, and 2021.
“We investigated, we noticed strong odours, a lot of meowing, so we called the police, who came to observe the same odours,” it told BFM.
“After two months, we obtained the search yesterday by the gendarmes.”
The man reportedly kept a register of his cats, which he called “his loves”, according to France 3.
A volunteer told the outlet they initially found 15 cats who were “all in a bad shape” and “eaten away by illness”.
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“But when I opened the freezer in one of the chalets, we understood that it was much more serious,” they added.
“When we took the cats out of the freezer, he didn’t understand the problem, he said that he had given them eternal life.”
AEPA says all surviving cats will need to be sterilised and cared for until they can be put up for adoption.