SALEM — At least 13 cats living in "deplorable" conditions behind piles of storage containers were found inside a self-storage unit Monday.
Food and water were nearby, but the overall condition of the storage bin was deplorable, Salem police Capt. Shawn Patten said. Police said they believe the cats had been living inside the storage unit for more than two months without light or temperature controls, he said.
The discovery came after a search for what employees at Uncle Bob's Self-Storage on South Policy Street thought was a lone stray cat.
A customer noticed a cat peeking its head out of a small opening at the top of the door of a unit on Saturday and notified the store manager, according to Diane Piegza, a spokeswoman for the storage company.
"We just thought it was some bizarre thing," Piegza said. "We thought this poor stray ended up in the space."
The manager called animal control, who set up traps around the business later on Saturday, but those came up empty, police said.
After receiving a call from the business that a cat could be heard crying inside the unit on Monday, Animal Control Officer Kelly Demers went in to try to catch it.
While moving containers and stored items filled the front of the unit, Demers accidentally knocked over an object he recognized as an old artillery shell, he said.
The state police bomb squad was called in, retrieved the artillery shell without incident, and cleared the scene for police to continue their search, Patten said.
At the back of the 10-by-20-foot unit, Demers found 13 cats.
The animals were taken to a veterinarian and their conditions were evaluated, according to Valorie Hayes, a Salem Animal Rescue League spokeswoman. Most of the cats were determined to be feral. SARL is waiting for the cats to be legally released from their owners before treating them, she said.
Salem animal control will continue to investigate the case.
