Exclusive: Man talks about finding 40 dead cats inside Queens storage unit

LONG ISLAND CITY, Queens (WABC) -- It was a nasty and disgusting surprise for one man who bought a storage unit at auction, at least 40 dead cats, all frozen.

The man spoke exclusively with Eyewitness News about how he got more than he bargained for.

"I was shocked because I have a cat, my baby is a little cat, and I was shocked to see all those things," said Carlos, the buyer of the storage locker.

Carlos rescued a cat named "Oreo Cookie" and took in from the street. She looks nothing like these cats.

"I look in both freezers and both freezers are exactly the same," Carlos said.

There were not one, but two deep freezers filled with frozen dead cats.

Carlos had the displeasure of this discovery Monday afternoon around 2, at American Self-Storage in Long Island City, after paying $150 for the contents of a unit that was auctioned off for non-payment of rent.

"Some were just on the top, some were inside," Carlos said.

But what's even more disturbing, is what was next to feline filled freezers.

"When I saw the cats and then I saw a bunch of plates, and then you know like when you go to a fast food restaurant, those folding plates, and you see all those folding plates you think, do I eat a cat before?" Carlos said.

Police don't yet know why the cats were there and how they died.

They only know it was rented by a 66-year-old woman in 2014 and she stopped paying rent in July.

A written statement from American Self-Storage reads in part: "Self-Storage companies do not examine the items which tenants store in their rented units, but we join in feeling the shock at the mistreatment of animals."

"They were really nice, the manager is a beautiful person, he returned my money, I don't lose my money," Carlos said.

American Self-Storage also made donations to the ASPCA in Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island and the three New Jersey counties where they have facilities.