ST. PETERSBURG (AP) – A Tampa Bay area man was charged with animal cruelty after a visitor to his home found four kittens in his freezer, one of which was dead.

It happened Sunday at the home of 38-year old Rodney Blanchard. When he asked his friend Eve Mulder to get him a beer, Mulder said she heard mewing coming from the freezer.

While she didn’t find any beer, she did find four kittens on a lower shelf in individual sandwich bags. Three of the kittens, orange and white males, were alive. The fourth, a calico, was dead. They were approximately six weeks old.

When Mulder tried to remove the kittens from the freezer, Blanchard allegedly pushed her away and told her to leave. She did and called the police.

The surviving kittens were taken to a local animal hospital. Officials also removed an adult cat from the home.

Blanchard was charged with four counts of animal cruelty and one count of misdemeanor battery. He was being held on $8,500 bail.

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