Cruelty to animals in Belgium: seventy-five cats and three dogs were found in refrigerators inside a house

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

The same source added that thanks to the intervention of animal welfare services in the Wallonia region, 25 cats were found alive but in poor condition, confirming information from the RTBF TV channel.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before, as long as I’m in charge of an (animal) shelter,” Gaetan Scaldino, director of the resort in the town of La Louviere, told AFP. He added, “I could not imagine that one day I would throw so many bodies on the ground for examination.”

Wass workers went to this house, on Wednesday, accompanied by police officers, after a complaint from a neighbor. No details were provided about its occupants, whom the authorities described only as “marginalized persons”. Police will take witness statements in order to pursue charges of animal cruelty.

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

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

The 25 cats that were found alive were taken to three shelters to receive proper care because they often suffer from skin diseases due to living in their feces.