An Arizona man was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after police found 183 dead animals in his freezer.
On 3 April, police received a complaint from a woman who claimed that the animals she'd given Michael Patrick Turland for breeding weren't returned.
When police arrived at the house Turland was thought to be occupying, he and his wife were nowhere to be found. There were, however, over a hundred dead animals in their freezer.
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These animals were found by the owner of the property and, as you can imagine, Turland was arrested as soon as he returned to the house.
The Arizona man now faces 94 counts of animal cruelty, with snakes, lizards, birds, dogs, and rabbits among those found in the basement freezer.
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The Mohave County Sheriff's Office took to Facebook to share the incident with the local community.
"On April 3, 2022, Deputies were called to a residence in the 3400 block of N. Kaba Rd. In reference to an animal welfare check. The reporting party advised that multiple dead animals had been located inside a freezer in the garage and she believed some of them had belonged to her."
"Upon arrival, the reporting party advised that she resides in Phoenix and that an agreement had been reached between herself and Turland for him to take possession of her snakes and breed them, then return them to her." But sadly, the snakes were never returned to their rightful owner.
The authorities continued: "Officers located dogs, turtles, lizards, birds, snakes, mice, rats, and rabbits. Several of the animals appeared to have been frozen alive due to their body positioning."
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At this point, deputies were said to have attempted contacting Turland, but couldn't get through. However, Turland returned to the residence on 13 April, where he was taken into custody and eventually transported to the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility in Kingman.
"When interviewed, Turland eventually admitted to placing some of the animals in the freezer when they were still alive."
The investigation is ongoing, but authorities are looking to speak to Brooklyn Beck, Turland's wife, about the incident.
The maximum sentence for an animal cruelty felony in Arizona is 2.5 years.
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People were quick to note the relatively short sentence on Facebook, with one user writing: "Arizona laws are so weak on animal cruelty that he will probably just get a fine. That really needs to change."
While others were horrified by Turland's actions, noting: "How could anyone freeze an animal alive or harm any animal at all. It hurts my heart and my stomach. So sad."
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Topics: News, US News, Animal Cruelty, Animals, no-article-matching