KINGS PARK, N.Y. (1010 WINS) – A Long Island woman was arrested after authorities "crawled" through her cluttered home and found neglected cats, dead sugar gliders and crack cocaine, the Suffolk County SPCA said Monday.
Suffolk County SPCA detective Joseph Galante said the case began when a cat was taken to a veterinarian during an apparent opioid overdose.
Among the dozens of animals found during a subsequent search on Saturday afternoon were 20 sugar gliders—11 neglected and nine dead—and nine neglected cats, the SPCA said. Sugar gliders are a type of gliding possum.
One dead snake was also discovered in the home, which the SPCA described as "overcrowded" with "hoarded garbage over six feet high in some spaces."
"Noxious air and the odor of feces, urine, and rot were so pungent it made personnel cough and gag upon entry and stung their eyes," the SPCA said, adding, "the conditions inside were so extreme that personnel had to crawl over the piles of debris inside."
One of nine neglected cats who officials said was found in the home.Suffolk County SPCA
Galante said it was "hard to describe that rot, feces, stale, noxious air."
"The door could only be opened maybe a foot and a half, and then the entire first floor hoarded up to almost six feet high," he said.
Dozens of "apparent drug paraphernalia" were also strewn about the home, along with crack cocaine and MDMA, according to authorities.
Cazandra Nucci, 42, faces multiple misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, as well as drug charges. She was released and is set to return to court Feb. 28.
The home was deemed unfit for human occupancy and condemned by the Town of Smithtown, officials said.
Suffolk County Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office BEAST Unit took part in the operation.
The Suffolk County SPCA urged people who witness any incident of animal cruelty or neglect in Suffolk County to contact the Suffolk County SPCA at (631) 382-7722
