15 To 20 Dead Cats Found In Man's Freezer

Police officers and the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty (NJSPCA) arrived at the home of Ian Barlow in Upper Pittsgrove Township, N.J. to find a chilling scene: 15 to 20 dead cats "neatly wrapped" in bags in the freezer, CBS reported.

This came after authorities were tipped off by Barlow's Facebook rants, which mentioned the dying animals and requested funds for a PayPal account to support them.

A cache of dangerous weapons and an expired visa were also found in the home, NJ.com reported.

Five cats were rescued alive from the home and were hospitalized with serious medical issues, authorities told the publication. They are currently being monitored by a NJSPCA veterinarian.

Barlow was arrested and remains on a detainer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rick Yocum, president of the NJSPCA told the news source that animal cruelty charges are in the works.

“In addition to the weapons and expired Visa charges against Mr. Barlow, animal cruelty charges will be filed shortly. Our main priority right now is the cats that are receiving the necessary veterinary care, as well as the remaining animals on the property — both inside the home and out. Our investigation in ongoing.”

In January, an animal cruelty investigation was launched after a dog was found frozen in a block of ice on a British Columbia man's front lawn.

VIDEO: AP HEADLINES

Comments

[rainkitty]

05:21 AM on 09/30/2011

SICK!

[pappyvet]

12:01 AM on 09/19/2011

yes well maybe he was thinking in the neighborhood of a hollandaise sauce or something in a beer batter. Whatever it is , I think he needs to have a long and hopefully fruitful talk with someone who would really like to understand in a deep and preemptive way.

[jmoser1973]

09:35 AM on 09/18/2011

I don't think he had intended to eat them. I'm just thinking disturbed. I can't even give him hoarding status on this one because hoarders want to keep things. They don't post on facebook that they need money to help the animals. Most hoarders remain in their own private world and don't draw attention to themselves. I'm just guessing too.

[fieryat41]

01:12 AM on 09/18/2011

Those poor cats. This guy needs help for his hoarding. Let him get that after he is deported. I am hoping Obama does not feel sorry for this guy enough to interfere with the deportation.

[gotzideas]

10:36 PM on 09/17/2011

I'm thinking he's just a hoarder who didn't have enough money to take his sick pets to the vet and couldn't afford to properly bury or cremate them when they died, so he placed them in the freezer to preserve them until he could afford burial or cremation and this is why he was requesting donations on facebook...poor cats.

[jmoser1973]

09:30 AM on 09/18/2011

i wish i could see the good that you see.

[simplesins]

08:07 PM on 09/17/2011

Is there any hope that in the future HuffPo will start finishing/polishing articles before they publish them? It says his guy had an expired visa and mentions a guy from Britsh Columbia with a dog frozen in a block of ice. Is there some connection? Is this guy from BC, too? Did this guy kill the cats or, since the article mentions medical issues, did they die of natural causes? How did he accumulate so many sickly animals- hanging out at vet's offices and getting them from people? What kind of dangerous weapons? I've noticed that to make a story more salacious or increase charges, the butcher block of steak knives on the kitchen counter could be considered dangerous weapons. What country is this guy from? It mentions taking five sick animals from the house, but then mentions that it's trying to remove more from inside and outside. How many and what animals are there? Did the guy live by himself? If so, isn't the law set up for animal welfare to go in and take the animals since their "caretaker" is locked up?

Come on, HuffPo. You can take an article about Brad Pitt and find out and include details about what underwear he wore for the interview, so how about trying to give all stories that kind of attention to detail? If a middle schooler turned a story like this into the teacher, it would be handed back for re-write. I wish I had that luxury.

[kingjohn1956]

07:22 AM on 09/18/2011

Great Post!! If I were a middle school teacher you would get an A- . I'd prefer to have details about Angelina's underwear. That would make it an A+.

[stanleycorp1]

01:35 PM on 09/18/2011

you should place your resume with them... good point? I was asking some of those questions too, but then thought he was probably eating the cats.... and I lost interest... but yes the undergarments is more of interest...

[NunuDudu]

12:06 PM on 09/17/2011

People are drawing some really bizarre conclusions from this story. Why are you assuming that he was planning on eating the cats?

[annedyth]

12:57 PM on 09/17/2011

NunuDudu,
considering how the cats were neatly wrapped and in the guy's freezer that's one of the things that spring to mind....It's actually More disturbing to think on WHY else the guy had them there....Was he going to make a frozen 'urban art' kind of thing with them? Save them for mailing to people later? ....It makes me more than a little ancy over what ELSE He had them for.......

[NunuDudu]

03:16 PM on 09/17/2011

Animal hoarder was the first thing that came to my mind. But if he were to eat them, why store 15 of them? I mean it's like having 15 steaks in the freezer for a single man....

Oh my god why am I rationalizing this?

[Ken Ashcraft]

08:07 AM on 09/17/2011

they fail to mention his taco stand he ran..

[MaybeMilo]

08:06 AM on 09/17/2011

"In January, an animal cruelty investigation was launched after a dog was found frozen in a block of ice on a British Columbia man's front lawn."

I'm not really sure why that was tossed in.

?

[ringerang8]

06:55 AM on 09/17/2011

I thought when they first said they found something bizarre in his freezer,... that it was my mother inlaws meatloaf !!

[floodberg]

01:15 PM on 09/19/2011

Ringerang8, I know exactly what you're talking about!! My mother died in 1983, and was never a stellar cook but her meatloaf was really frightening. They had a huge freezer (new, frost-free) downstairs, and around 1990 he was dating a lovely woman and I was there for dinner.  I asked about the freezer, and they said they didn't use it.  I suddenly realized why: he'd never cleaned it out.  I grabbed trash bags, got some cleaner and headed downstairs.  I threw it all out until I found my mother's aged meatloaf; I thawed it and used the disposal so some animal in a landfill didn't get a hold of it.    .

[2tru4u2c]

06:48 AM on 09/17/2011

Very spotty info. (no pun intended) Is this just another case of an animal hoarder or is it as twisted as the story suggests? Wish we had more info. I sit on the board of a NO KILL cat shelter and we deal with hoarders from time to time. It's never a surprize what you might find when you enter the, often dimented, world of a hoarder. Just saying don't pass judgment too quickly.

[gdzilla2]

07:12 AM on 09/17/2011

I realize that all forms of hoarding is a mental condition. However, before you dismiss these people as sick and not really being aware of what they are doing, stop and think about this. Hoarders are reclusive, secretive people. They deliberately isolate themselves from the outside world and usually have little or no contact with people with the exception sometimes of one or two family members. Even then, they try to keep them out of their homes. They do this because they KNOW that what they are doing is wrong and they don't want people trying to change them or their lifestyle. I have had hoarders in my family and have a friend who is married to one and I am one of the very few people allowed in her home. They know right from wrong. Animal hoarders start out trying to do good things for strays etc and it snowballs but they will not part with their animals because they would rather sit and watch them die than place them. I think this man should just be deported asap and not waste the taxpayers time.

[candyazzbb]

04:45 AM on 09/17/2011

the guy should be shot on sight and then his body deported to the country of origin.

[turlockgirl24]

04:44 AM on 09/17/2011

least didnt smell right lol

[yukidongo1]

03:20 AM on 09/17/2011

Did anyone happen to notice "the expired VISA charges" against Barlow? Foreigner? Now, I am curious as to whether he may truly have been storing the "meat". But, if the animals were in bad shape when they died, it is doubtful. Also, if not gutted and cleaned, doubtful. You don't store meat (for the most part) with the entrails. Probably just hiding the bodies til her could dispose of them in a dumpster somewhere.

[RadicalAmerica]

02:48 AM on 09/17/2011

Obviously.... CAT - the other white meat.