2 BOH members stripped from roles as animal inspectors

Massachusetts state officials have stripped two Westport Board of Health members of their abilities to inspect animals in the wake of what is now being called the largest ever Farm Animal Cruelty Case in the Northeast.

A letter obtained by ABC 6 News says that  Board of Health Chairman John Colletti and member Karl Santos failed to properly perform the inspections directed to be completed.

"This has been going on for some time and there’s a reason that it was allowed to go this long and hopefully people will realize that this is unacceptable and they need to report these type of situations when they see them,” said Tim Rickey the VP of Field Investigations for the ASPCA.

Last month hundreds of animals were discovered living in squalor, dozens had to be put down.

The state letter says that the property where the animals were found was inspected January 11th with no remarks of problems. Then, six plus months later on July 19th the gruesome discovery was made. The letter says the animals were found not only in deplorable condition but also among scores of dead animals in various states of decomposition.

Director Michael Cahill writing, "the conditions described on this property are not the result of a few weeks or months of mismanagement. This level of unsanitary conditions took years to accumulate."

"This has been a crisis in the making for a long time based on what we are seeing long-term environmental challenges and long-term neglect,” said Rickey.

We went to Colletti’s house where we were told no comment. As of Thursday night were not able to get in touch with Santos.

There is a Board of Health meeting scheduled for Monday night.

(C) WLNE 2016