NEW YORK -- Forty-two Ziploc bags, each filled with the rotting remains of a different kitten.
That's what State Police said Arthur Millard dumped behind his father's home on River Road. The bags were stuffed into a five-gallon buckets along with the carcasses of two adult cats wrapped in towels.
The cats were found Thursday on railroad property behind 90 River Road, and troopers brought the remains to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society hoping to sort out what happened to the doomed felines. But the animals were so badly decomposed it may not be possible to tell when they died.
"It's literally just skin and bones," said Brad Shear, the shelter's executive director. "The entire situation is extremely disturbing. We've never really run into a hoarding case like this."
Millard, 53, has been connected to two cat-hoarding cases since July. What makes the cases unusual is that they involve multiple people and locations.
On March 31, Millard, his son, Earl Millard, and his sister-in-law, Mary Ryan, were all charged with animal neglect after 136 cats were found in their trailer at D&R Trailer Park in Halfmoon. Two of the cats were dead, 19 were euthanized.
Last summer, Arthur Millard, Ryan, and her sister, Bertha Ryan, were accused of animal cruelty for allegedly hoarding another 130 cats at a home in Schaghticoke. That case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, meaning the charges would be dropped if the defendants stayed out of trouble.
"Your typical animal-hoarding case involves one person who lives alone," Shear said. "It's hard to know what's really going on here."
Millard had previously told police that he and his family drive around the streets of Troy and pick up stray cats.
Charges against Millard in the dumping of the dead kittens were expected to be filed in the next few days, said Trooper Mark Cepiel, a State Police spokesman. His father, James Millard, told police he did not know about the dead cats.
Millard admitted to troopers that he discarded the cats, but insisted that they had died of natural causes, Cepiel said.
Shear said he's worried the family may be hoarding cats at another home.
"The real question here is where did the cats come from," Shear said.
Holly Cheever, a veterinarian and vice president of the New York State Humane Association, said Millard's latest case is symptomatic of both the nearly 100 percent recidivism rate among animal hoarders and the lax penalties when they are caught and punished.
Penalties for animal cruelty or neglect, the most common crimes animal hoarders face, can include jail time, but Cheever said a more stringent follow-up process is needed, including psychological counseling, a limit on the number of pets that may be owned by people convicted of hoarding-related crimes and monthly monitoring to ensure they aren't amassing more animals.
"Unfortunately there are not enough resources available to make this a reality," Cheever said.
Troopers said that anyone with information involving Millard's cats may call them at 783-3211.
(Times Union - April 9, 2012)
