Dozens of cats were found living in dirty and dangerous conditions at a North Bellmore home.

The Nassau Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says 40 cats were found inside the house.

It says it helped to remove around seven cats and kittens.

Officials say the condition the house was left in made it too dangerous to enter at first.

A local animal shelter has set safe traps to help capture rest of the animals.

Neighbors on Washington Boulevard say there could even be more cats and that the stench coming from the home was unbearable. They say children couldn’t play outside, people couldn’t be in their front yards and there was cat feces and dead cats around the now condemned home.

Erin Urbanski says this started in 2017 and she has been trying to get county officials to do something about the situation for years.

“I have called the town, the animal shelter, they did nothing,” Urbanski says.

She says she is frustrated that her pleas for help went unanswered for years, but is glad that the town and county are finally addressing the issue.

In a statement to News 12, a spokesman for the Town of Hempstead said in part, “Animal cruelty is a crime and will be tolerated in America’s largest township.”

Nassau SPCA officials say there is a big cost to take care of the cats they rescued so they welcome donations.

Town officials say they will come back to the house throughout the week to care for the cats that are still there.