112 animals rescued from Milwaukee man's home, animal skeletons found

One hundred twelve animals of various types and sizes were seized from a Milwaukee man's home by animal control authorities, according to FOX6 Milwaukee.

A 46-year-old man was arrested, as district attorneys are still reviewing possible charges of animal cruelty in what is being referred to as an "animal hoarding" case.

The Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission and police rescued what they described as "every animal under the sun," with some neglected, not surviving the ordeal.

Milwaukee Police were serving a search warrant when they found the unimaginable number of animals.

The scene was described as very dark, with "cages of birds all over the place," with many deceased animals having to be left at the scene. Investigators found several skeletons of smaller animals such as quail.

"Every time you turn the corner, it was something different," said Karen Sparapani, director of the animal control commission.

Among the animals were many domestic as well as exotic creatures: alligators, turkeys, rabbits, dogs, snakes, ducks, and other farm animals.

Despite obvious signs of neglect in many of the animals, the animal control director said that there were some indicators that the man (or someone) was caring for some of the animals. Sparapani described the latter animals as "socialized" and "friendly," a sign that they were looked after. However, many of the animals did not have proper food or water and did not have clean cages. There were no signs of primary care given to the majority of the animals,

Authorities alluded to the idea that this could have been a case of illegal animal sales given that there were several exotic creatures on the premises such as chinchillas.

"Always do research on where you get your pets from," the report mentioned.

Ninety percent of puppies sold in stores are from mills, according to Spots.com, with only about half of them surviving long enough to make it to the pet stores. Two out of three American households own a pet, with pet health care having an estimated total economic impact of $54.8 billion.