ROME, Ga. – Floyd County police arrested a 66-year-old man on May 15 after escorting building inspectors to his home. While approaching the front door, officers were forced to cover their noses from an extremely strong smell of decaying food, mold, and animal urine. The mobile home was in deplorable condition, filled with piles of trash several feet high, litters of sick kittens, and piles of human feces.
Joseph Eugene Morrison, Jr. allowed police to inspect his home and helped them locate four kittens, with one officer climbing a mountain of trash to retrieve them. Morrison was arrested shortly after.
When an officer first arrived at the Sanders Avenue residence, they found a trailer surrounded by falling trees and undergrowth. An officer described in their report that piles of trash in the home were taller than a person. The house was filled with mold, mountains of garbage in every room, pet feces, and human feces.
According to reports, piles of human feces covered in used toilet paper were found on both sides of the toilet in the bathroom. The bathroom floor was also covered in smeared feces. While rescuing a litter of four kittens from the top of a trash pile, an officer slipped and inadvertently uncovered the body of a dead kitten cemented onto a piece of trash. Officers then had to step outside due to having difficulty breathing.
Morrison led officers to another litter of three kittens under his mattress, which was also covered in trash, dust, and mold. All living kittens were rescued and taken to a vet, where they were found to be suffering from ‘toxicity,’ which usually occurs when an animal is exposed to a toxin or poison either through eating, inhaling, or touching such a substance. Animal control was able to catch the mother cat with a trap.
Morrison was handcuffed and transported to the Floyd County Jail. He was booked on seven counts of animal cruelty and aggravated animal cruelty. His bond was set at $6500. This case is currently pending in court.
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On 05/15/2023 at approximately 1117 hours I arrived at [SINGLE DIGIT BLOCK] Sanders Ave with [REDACTED] with Building Inspection. [REDACTED] informed me that the living conditions were beyond repair and that he has never seen the individual living here before. That they have only spoke from a distance. [REDACTED] informed me that the individual is storing his food in the property next door that is abandoned with no power or water.
Upon arrival I observed a trailer that was hidden within the wood-line. The home was barely visible from the dirt drive-way. The trees surrounding the home appeared to be close to falling onto the home. The overgrowth was very tall, exceeding my knees. There was an old van with an expired tag parked in front of the residence. While walking to the front door, there was a very strong odor of decaying food, mold and animal urine. As I was approaching the front door, I had to cover my nose due to the strong odor.
There were a series of small stairs that led to a small wooden porch area. The steps were broken apart and not stable. [REDACTED] advised me to watch my footing due to the conditions of the stairs and porch. There was an abundance of empty water bottles to my left and an abundance of empty wine bottles to my right. [REDACTED] and I then made it to the front door.
The front door was off the hinges and being held in place with garbage, propped open to the left of the door frame. I announced myself and was able to get the resident (Morrison) to speak with us. While waiting for Morrison to walk toward us, I observed a mother cat run to the left side of the trailer from the top of a large pile of garbage that was located immediately to the right area of what appeared to be a living room.
I then looked at the top of the pile of garbage and observed a litter of kittens. From a distance, I was unable to tell if the kittens were healthy. The pile of trash that was filled with soiled food, wine bottles, food containers and misc items that stood taller than me. For reference, I am 5 foot 5 inches tall. The flooring of the house was completely covered in trash, cat feces and urine.
The walls of the living room were covered in spider webs, and what appeared to be water damage on the roofing. The kitchen was molded on the counter tops, fridge, cabinets and walls. The area above the kitchen sink was decaying with the paint peeling off the cabinets. I then had seen the mother cat hiding between a stackable washer and dryer in the rear of the home. She was a mixed breed type cat that was white, black and brown in color.
I then walked over near the washer and dryer to attempt to locate the mother cat. There was continued trash filling the hallway and the odor was strong of cat urine, and human feces. The walls were severely dirty and covered in spider webs. There was a small closet near the washer and dryer that had a large hole in the bottom. I was unable to open the door due to the amount of trash build up. When I turned around I was able to get a better look into the kitchen.
The kitchen was filled with trash, once again almost in height taller than me. The drawers were broken with some left open that were filled with molded utensils. The flooring of the kitchen was ripping up, with the bottom of the fridge rusted and the dishwasher was completely covered in mold.
Morrison allowed me to contact Animal Control to check the well-fare of the kittens. While waiting for Animal Control, I stepped outside due to the conditions making it difficult to breathe. When Sky Atkins arrived from Animal Control, we made contact with Morrison who allowed me to climb the trash pile to reach the kittens. I had to place my right knee on a molded old microwave, and use my left hand to hold onto Officer Atkins in order to maintain balance.
While trying to reach the kittens, my hands slipped almost causing me to fall of the trash pile. Officer Atkins guided me down to the floor. While slipping, my hands moved a large part of the trash pile where I located a deceased kitten. The kitten was black, and appeared to be the same age as the other kittens.
At this time, I requested for an additional unit. PFC O’Bryan arrived on scene.
Officer Atkins then was able to reach the kittens, and handed them to [REDACTED], myself and PFC O’Bryan. We took four kittens to the Animal Control truck and placed them in front of the air conditioning. Officer Atkins then passed me an old piece of newspaper in which the deceased kittens body was decayed onto. There was an obvious paw, ribs, facial bones, and fur left of the kitten. I placed the deceased kitten on a table top near the front door.
Morrison then advised me that there were more kittens located inside of his bedroom. Morrison then walked into his room, where I followed along with PFC O’Bryan. When walking into Morrison’s bedroom, there was an overwhelming smell of human feces and animal urine. The queen sized bed was half way covered with trash. To the instant right near the door frame of the bedroom there was located another abundance of empty alcohol containers.
Morrison then got onto the floor and reached under the bed, retrieving an additional three kittens. Morrison informed me that there was possibly one more kitten, but he was not positive. Once the three kittens were placed into the Animal Control truck, PFC O’Bryan removed Morrison’s gun from his holster on his right hip. I explained to Morrison that there was paperwork that he was going to have to sign for the kitten’s for Animal Control.
Once PFC O’Bryan, myself and Morrison reached the drive-way, Morrison was securely placed into handcuffs. I waited until Morrison was outside of the residence to place him into handcuffs due to the amount of hoard built up inside of the home, there was not a sufficient enough space to properly and safely place him into cuffs.
Animal Control then went over the paper-work with Morrison. Once Morrison surrendered all the animals, PFC O’Bryan waited until I located the rest of the kittens before transport.
Officer Atkins and I then went back into the residence to attempt to locate anymore kittens and/or the mother cat. We started by searching the area near the washer and dryer since that was the last location I saw her run. Officer Atkins then informed me that there was a large hole behind the dryer that went underneath the home. We continued to the most rear of the home, locating a bathroom to the left.
Inside of the bathroom there were large piles of what appeared to be human feces on the floor. There was a continuation of trash build up and piles of cat feces. The bath tub was also smeared with feces and urine. Officer Atkins and I then walked back to Morrison’s bedroom to check under the bed for another kitten that Morrison had mentioned.
Officer Atkins then advised me of the conditions of the bathroom located inside of the bedroom. There was a large built up pile of human feces covered in human feces wiped toilet paper on both sides of the toilet. The floor of the bathroom was covered in smeared feces. The sink of the bathroom appeared to be unusable.
Officer Atkins then lifted the mattress so I could throughly check under the bed for the last possible kitten. The mattress and box spring were covered in mold and dust. The large pile of trash that covered half of the bed began to fall as Officer Atkins lifted the bed. I did not locate anymore kittens under the bed at this time. Officer Atkins then placed the bed back onto the frame. I took Morrison’s pistol and placed it in between his mattress and box spring.
Due to the conditions of the front door, I was unable to properly secure the residence, therefore; I left the residence in the condition that I approached it in.
On 05/15/2023 I went to Animal Control to pick up paper work related to another case. While there I checked on the seven kittens that were brought in. Dr. [REDACTED] advised me that the kittens had “toxicity” and they were able to be placed with Floyd Felines.
Toxicity is defined as; “Uncharacteristic sluggishness, unsteady gait, drooling, heavy breathing, diarrhea, seizures and sudden bouts of vomiting.” This is defined and reported from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. “Toxicity occurs when a cat/kitten is exposed to a toxin or poison either through eating, inhaling, or touching such a substance.”
On 05/17/2023 Director [REDACTED] with Animal Control informed me that they had caught the mother cat with a trap.
[End of Narrative]
