When Police Arrived at Man’s Home to Arrest Him on Child Pornography Charges They Made Another Unexpected, Disturbing Discovery

Police in Lake Worth, Florida, were shocked at the unsettling discovery they made when they arrived a man’s home to arrest him on child pornography charges. Inside the suspect’s freezer were about 50 dead cats, according to police.

Doug Westcott, 55, was arrested on three counts of child pornography and detectives served a search warrant, seizing a computer from his home. Officers also found about 35 live cats in the home.

Source: Palm Beach Post

Capt. David Walesky of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control told the Palm Beach Post that officers entered Westcott’s home to find litter boxes “overflowing with feces and urine.” The suspect has reportedly refused to give up custody of the surviving cats, though animal control will fight to make sure the animals don't return to the home.

It’s not usual for animal hoarders to keep the bodies of animals, however, Walesky said most store them in a back room or closet. He said it was unusual that as many as 50 cats would be kept in a freezer.

One neighbor, 16-year-old William Penn, said the odor of cats was very strong at Westcott’s home.

“I never knew he had dead animals in the house, but outside (there were) cats everywhere,” he said. “Every time you passed his house, you smelled cats.”

The Palm Beach Post reports that Westcott worked as a Pizza Hut manager from 1994 to 2000 and launched a failed bid for the Florida House of Representatives.