17 dead pets found in Oregon school trailer freezer, volunteer says parting was too painful

17 dead pets found in Oregon school’s freezer

PORTLAND, Ore. — School officials say a custodian cleaning up a trailer at an Oregon school found 17 dead pets in a freezer, including six cats.

Portland Public Schools officials said the principal at Ockley Green School asked the custodian in July to help turn a little-used trailer behind the school into a classroom.

The Oregonian reports that the custodian found the animals in garbage bags and frozen solid in an upright freezer. Besides the cats, there were two hamsters, two goldfish, two frogs, a guinea pig, a hedgehog, a parakeet, a lizard and a spider.

A longtime volunteer says the animals were pets that had died of natural causes but it was too painful to part with them.

The volunteer was relieved from further duties. Police say she wasn’t cited because the animals had not been abused.

Information from: The Oregonian, www.oregonlive.com