'Cats In A Freezer': Animal Cruelty Charges For Elderly LI Man: SPCA

BOHEMIA, NY — A man has been charged with animal cruelty and neglect after officials found nearly 100 cats alive and dead—including 20 kittens in a freezer—in his Long Island home last week, according to the Suffolk County SPCA.

Stephen Glantz, 75, of Bohemia, was arrested and charged with nine counts of cruelty to animals and nine counts of animal neglect on Wednesday after he surrendered himself to SPCA detectives at the Suffolk County Police Department, according to SPCA Chief Roy Gross.

In a statement, Gross said that Glantz allegedly had over 60 living cats in his care, living in "poor, squalid conditions with many deceased cats in a freezer."

On Saturday, May 3, SPCD officers and John Debacker of Long Island Cat & Kitten Solution removed 28 deceased cats and 61 living—some pregnant—from "alarming conditions with wet urine, smeared feces, grim and filth covering the floors, walls and stairs" in Glantz's home.

Gross said the "overpowering foul odors of feces, rot, grime and ammonia were so severe" that SPCA detectives requested that the Town of Islip Fire Marshal's Hazmat Team and the Bohema Fire Department evaluate the air and structure. After getting high readings of ammonia gas inside the home, officials deemed the house uninhabitable due to the air quality and other code violations.

The cats were then housed and treated in the SPCA Mobile MASH Unit and the Isilp Animal Shelter, where Doctor Jason Heller, president of the Long Island Veterinary Medical Association, began treatment on Saturday night and worked into the early Sunday morning.

Heller, assisted by volunteer veterinarians and technicians, spayed, neutered, treated and evaluated the cats, many with medical conditions including upper respiratory infections, urine scalding, eye and dental diseases, missing teeth and ear discharge.

Gross aid that three cats were in "such severe physical condition" they required "humane euthanasia."

Currently, the cats are recovering at the animal shelter and will be available for adoption when they're medically stable. Eventually, 16 cats will be transferred to the Columbia-Greene Humane Society and 10 will go to the Saratoga County Animal Shelter for adoption into forever homes in upstate New York.