100 cats rescued, a garage caught on fire, and a convicted felon taken away in handcuffs
By John Rupolo
Click here for updates on this story
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — Police rescued more than 100 cats in poor health from a bus parked behind a home in the 1700 block of Cornell Drive in Albuquerque on Wednesday, as a detached garage at the property caught fire during the operation.
The incident began the day before when police arrested Christopher Hart, a wanted felon, after his vehicle was found blocking an alley at Ross Avenue and Cornell Drive.
Officers returned to the area the next day to investigate a bus parked behind a house associated with Hart. Detecting a foul odor, they discovered the cats inside.
“There’s a lot of cats in there,” said Hart.
A person at the home told officers the bus and cats belonged to Hart’s girlfriend.
While Albuquerque police and animal control were collecting the cats, a detached garage on the property caught fire, drawing attention from neighbors.
“What do you make of all this? It’s bizarre. It’s like this. What a strange story this is,” one neighbor said.
On Thursday afternoon, a man who identified himself as Hart’s brother, Michael, was still rounding up more cats at the scene.
“I own the house, and the garage comes with the house,” said Hart.
When asked about the fire that destroyed the garage, Michael said, “I don’t know what caused the fire.”
Police said it took seven hours to collect all the cats, which were taken to Animal Welfare’s Westside Shelter.
“A lot of them were very sick. A lot of them had sort of breathing issues. A lot of them had eye issues, and a lot of them were severely malnourished,” said Jeremy Asiaksen Albuquerque Animal Welfare
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.