A MAN found dead in his trash-strewn Pennsylvania home had lain there for so long that his starving cats had begun feeding on his corpse.
Herbert Walden’s 94-year-old mother Jane was also found dead in their home on Saturday (local time) along with the corpses of four cats and a dog, The Erie Times-News reports.
Animal lover Walden, 74, described as a well-liked school teacher, died of a heart attack at the end of June and lay undiscovered at his home for more than a week.
After his death, police said his mother, who lived with him, suffered dehydration and being unable to care for herself, died a week later.
The deaths left an estimated 16 pet cats and a dog trapped and starving in the property in Albion, northwest Pennsylvania.
At least one of the cats had begun feeding on Walden’s foot, Erie County Deputy Coroner Korac Timon said.
Walden’s home had no running water and was filled with trash. Instead of toilets, Walden and his mother used buckets, lining the hallways with containers filled with their waste.
Investigators also found trash stacked up to the ceiling of the home, making it nearly impossible to move about the house.
“We see these environments but this is indescribable,” executive director of the Humane Society of Northwest Pennsylvania, Joe Grisanti, said.
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