A caretaker has been arrested after the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Department discovered an elderly man living in poor conditions among hundreds of animals -- including dogs, cats, sheep, goats, geese, roosters and rabbits.
Richard Anthony Delfeld Jr., 53, was arrested Sunday morning by Van Zandt County sheriff's deputies on a charge of felony injury to a disabled person. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.
The Van Zandt County Sheriff's Department received a call from a concerned citizen and went to the property near Wills Point, TX. KETK-TV in Tyler reports that authorities found the elderly man living with no electricity or running water.
An official with the sheriff's office says that around 185 animals were found alive and about 75 were found dead Saturday.
"This by far is one of the worst cases of animal hoarding I have ever seen," Sheriff Pat Burnett told the Tyler Morning Telegraph in Sunday online editions.
According to the SPCA of Texas, although the caretaker had access to food for the animals on site, he did not appear to have been feeding or giving water to the animals.
The SPCA took the surviving animals to the Perry Animal Care Center in McKinney.
A hearing on the custody of the pets will be held on Friday. If the SPCA wins custody the animals will be evaluated for possible adoption.
