Animal Farm?

New York house found with filthy animals including calf

Dozens of flea-infested animals and several rotting animal corpses were removed from a filthy New York home where an elderly woman with dementia lived with two younger people, authorities said on Wednesday.

Living in the house were a calf, fancy hens, rats, rabbits, a chinchilla, a Mallard duck, a pheasant and other animals, said Sergeant Regina Benfante of the Suffolk County, New York, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"You name it, and that type of animal was in there," she said. All told, 76 live animals and about 10 corpses were found, she said.

Three people also lived in the house -- the 87-year-old owner who suffers from dementia, family friend Alan Warner, 23, and his fiance, she said.

Warner was cited for violating town codes regarding the animals but no animal cruelty charges had been filed while the SPCA investigates, she said.

"I don't know how the woman was living in the home, because she is very elderly and very frail." said Benfante.

"No animal should live in that condition, no humans either," she said. "This is one of the worst homes we have ever seen, filled with faeces and urine."

The calf, chinchilla, rabbits and cats showed signs of distress but the SPCA said it hopes the animals can be nursed to health and most put up for adoption.

"We have never seen a cow in a house before, that was a first." said SPCA Chief Steve Laton.