MILWAUKEE – Police released investigation video on Thursday of what they call a “house of horrors” in reports.
It’s been called animal hoarding. The video shows turtles in Tupperware intermingled with piles and piles of stuff. Alligators and crocodiles were kept in metal horse troughs stacked one on top of another.
Prosecutors say 60-year-old reptile lover Terry Cullen is responsible. Police started investigating Cullen after a woman applying for an internship accused him of sexual assault.
In the warehouse at W. Lincoln Avenue & S. 13th Street, investigators found an uncaged alligator huddled by a radiator. Those working inside are seen on video wearing masks. They described an overwhelming, musty, animal feces smell.
Randy Hetzel, who conducts animal educational presentations, now has a confiscated, endangered ornate box turtle. Randy went inside the Cullen property as a consultant.
“There was obviously a lot of animals in a small space,” Hetzel told TODAY’S TMJ4 reporter Tom Murray. “I got the sense that someone got in over their head.”
The creature count is over 300. Most are now at Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control in West Milwaukee. Specialists from the Milwaukee Zoo are assisting with their care.
About a dozen reptiles loaned to Cullen were returned, including Chinese Alligators from the Bronx Zoo. The fate of the rest will likely wait until Cullen’s case goes through court.
Calls placed Thursday to Cullen and his attorney, Stephen Glynn, were not returned.
Cullen is due in court on July 6th for a scheduling conference.