News - Local/State

Monday, Oct. 06, 2008

Dozens of cats, dogs abandoned at Rock Hill house

Forty-two cats and three dogs were abandoned at a Rock Hill home after the property was foreclosed, authorities said.

The cats were found inside the home at 1116 Westover Circle, and the dogs were tied up outside, authorities said.

“Most were in fairly good health,” York County Animal Control manager Chris Peninger said of the animals. “About seven kittens needed extra attention.”

Police charged William McCleery, 55, with two counts of abandonment of animals and two counts of ill treatment of animals, said Lt. Jerry Waldrop of the Rock Hill Police Department. McCleery’s address was listed as 1116 Westover Circle.

McCleery could not be reached for comment Monday.

The animals will remain housed at the county animal shelter until McCleery goes to court later this month, Peninger said.

On Sept. 24, authorities went to the Westover Circle house, where they saw several cats clawing at a window in an attempt to get out, according to a police report.

Police said they discovered three dogs tied up on and under the back patio — all with no access to food, water or adequate shelter. From the house, police said they smelled a “strong odor of ammonia.”

Witnesses told police that the house’s owners had loaded a camper with their belongings and left on Sept. 18, according to a police incident report.

Lorie Mangan, a neighbor, said she made the initial call to police. Mangan said she first noticed a cat climbing out of a window and remembered her neighbor hadn’t been home lately. So she and another neighobor walked over to the home to push a screen back in the window.

“The smell was so horrendous that it just about knocked me and my neighbor out,” she said. “And we looked in the window. ... I had never seen nothing like it.”

Officers were later told that someone was caring for the animals, said Rock HIll Police Chief John Gregory.

But police returned to the house Thursday to check again on the animals. No food or water were available for the dogs, and they appeared malnourished and remained tied in the back patio area, according to the incident report.

The area where the dogs could walk was covered in feces and infested with bugs, according to the report.

Officers saw about 15 malnourished cats in the house, which reeked of a foul odor, with feces covering the floor.

On Friday, police returned to the house with York County animal control officers and a search warrant and took custody of the animals. McCleery was arrested later that day.

He also was charged with driving under suspension and driving without insurance.

York County leaders are planning to rewrite the county’s animal control laws, and one change being discussed is limiting how many animals a resident can own.

“We’re always reading about people that live in mobile homes and other areas … that just are infested with animals,” said York County Council Chairman Buddy Motz. “Certainly, something like that needs to be addressed.”

Motz wouldn’t say whether he’d support such a change. Any restriction on the number of animals must have exceptions for kennels and shelters. But he said leaders need to discuss a limit, along with guidelines for spaying and neutering pets.

McCleery’s court date is set for Oct. 31, a city jail official said. He was released Saturday on a $2,977 bond.