Seventy-five dead cats and three dogs were found within freezers, in a house in the Mons region of southern Belgium where “marginals” lived, a local branch of the Animal Protection Agency (SPA) reported today.

Thanks to the intervention of the animal care services in the Wallonia region, 25 cats were found alive, but in poor condition, added the same source, confirming a report from the RTBF TV channel.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in the time I’ve been in charge of an (animal) shelter.”Gaetan Scaldino, the director of the SPA in the town of La Louviere, told AFP. “I couldn’t imagine that one day I would be laying on the floor so many corpses to examine”he added.

SPA workers went to this house on Wednesday, accompanied by police officers, after a complaint from a neighbor. No details have been given about its occupants, whom the authorities described only as “marginal people”. Police will take statements from witnesses in order to pursue possible animal cruelty charges.

According to Skaldino, the large number of animals is explained by the fact that they were allowed to breed unchecked. “We often talk about the necessity of neutering but in my opinion here there was so much neglect of the animals that were dying very quickly” after their birth. “We found dead kittens a few days old, even a few hours old”he added.

Cruelty to animals can be punished with imprisonment or by a heavy fine in Wallonia.

The 25 cats that were found alive were taken to three shelters to be given proper care as they mostly suffer from skin diseases from living in their feces.