Women Lived With 80 Dead Animals: Cops

Police in South Carolina arrived at a home to serve an eviction notice and were stopped dead in their tracks by the stench. The tenants, it turned out, had about 80 dead animals in various states of decay inside and outside the house in Laurens County, reports WSPA and WYFF. Those animals included dogs, cats, deer, chickens, ferrets—you name it. Some were stashed in the refrigerator or freezer (the power had been shut off), some wrapped in plastic, and some were just left where they died.

Rebecca Keith, 58, and daughters Amanda, 33, and Sara, 31, were charged with animal cruelty and failure to bury animals properly. The women say they loved the animals and always meant to bury them, but never got around to it. "I guess you could say they're like family," says Amanda Keith. "We didn't want to leave them behind. We've already had to leave so many behind." (More South Carolina stories.)