Does the caged bird sing? It's very likely that a 75-year-old veterinarian thought she was helping the more than 200 birds and other animals in her possession. Or, perhaps, the veterinarian had a hoarding problem, obsessed with collecting them all like the average Pokemon fan. At this point, it's hard for me to say.
But officials found the animals in a dreadful state, living in "literally unsafe" environments. They ended up rescuing the hundreds of animals from the vet's New York home. It reached a point where The Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sought a search warrant. What they found was shocking to animal lovers everywhere. These creatures were living in alleged deplorable conditions.
Just how bad is deplorable, you might ask. Well, let me paint a picture for you that you're unlikely to forget. Workers donned white hazmat suits to enter the home. It's a scene out of Chernobyl or an apocalyptic situation. They found a high number of dirty cages as well as garbage throughout the property.
They ended up rescuing several species of birds, parrots, geese, cats and tortoises. No word on if they found a partridge and a pear tree. The Nassau County SPCA "holds special authority as NYS peace officers to enforce NYS Agriculture & Markets Law and all other state and local humane laws," per its website.
Birds And Other Animals Removed
Nassau County SPCA Chief Gary Rogers spoke about the birds and the decision to remove the animals. It boiled down to the environment being unsafe for them.
"It's all garbage and furniture. It's piled up. You can't move around. Literally unsafe. You know, more than one or two people can be in there at a time to be able to get around in the house," he said.
"There's no way that a 75-year-old person, or even a 40-year-old person, or a 21-year-old person could care for this large amount of animals without help. And apparently, there was no help there," he said. Police plan to charge the vet with animal cruelty.
"In my 44 years of doing animal crimes, I have never seen a situation as horrendous and hard as this for these poor animals, and these birds, really very intelligent, are living in a lifestyle that is far beyond. You can't comprehend it. it's hard," he later added.
