An Oregon state employee and a Salem city employee were arrested in connection to the neglect of 35 cats, three of which died.
Richard Kleimeier, 52, a city of Salem employee, and his wife Jenny Kleimeier, 46, an employee with the state, were investigated after they were suspected of owning and possibly neglecting more than 30 cats.
When Marion County deputies arrived they found a total of 35 cats in a U-Haul. The cars were kept inside of laundry baskets, which were zip tied together to keep the cats from escaping, the sheriff's office said.
The cats had been inside the U-Haul for three days without food or water, according to deputies. During that time, three of the cats died.
The other 32 cats were surrendered to the Willamette Humane Society.
"Right now we're getting everyone examined, vaccinated, of course, our first concern is food and water and took care of that last night," Betsy Bode, Operations Director at Willamette Humane Society, said. "Now we're just making sure everyone is up to par on health."
The couple were arrested and booked on three counts of first-degree animal neglect and 32 counts of second-degree animal neglect.