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Melissa and Thomas Caffey

Documents describe horrific conditions at Buda-area home

Animals Seized
Friday, December 7, 2018

The house in Buda where more than 160 animals were seized last month was “completely uninhabitable,” and two children lived there until Child Protective Services said they could not stay there any longer, according to affidavits for the arrest of two adults who lived there.

Melissa and Thomas Caffey face two charges of child endangerment; Melissa Caffey faces 10 additional charges of cruelty to non-livestock animals. 

A detective with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office with 15 years of experience as a peace officer was the affiant providing probable cause for the Caffeys’ arrests. Detective Jennifer Baker wrote in the affidavit that animal control officers were about to seize what was originally expected to be fewer than 100 animals from a property in Buda. Baker was advised that six people lived in the house: Melissa Caffey, Thomas Caffey, Trevor Caffey, an elderly woman who was not identified and two minor children. 

“Melissa Caffey stated that she owned and operated an animal rescue, and that it had gotten ‘out of hand’ over the past year,” Baker wrote, adding that Melissa Caffey was cooperative throughout the investigation. 

Baker wrote that when she accompanied Melissa and Thomas Caffey into the home, there was “an inundating odor of ammonia, feces, decomposition and urine throughout the residence.” She described the odor as being so strong that her eyes began watering and she began dry heaving even though she was wearing a cloth mask. Because she was trying not to vomit “due to the extreme odor,” Baker had to leave the house.

Baker also described seeing trash covered in animal feces scattered around the house and a small bird cage with approximately 15 kittens inside it.

“The kittens were extremely skinny, and covered in feces,” Baker wrote. “Affiant did not feel that the size of the bird cage was adequate for the amount of animals that it was containing.”

Photos from inside the residence taken by animal control officers showed “animals that appeared malnourished, dead rats inside the residence, feces throughout the residence that was inches thick in areas, trash and debris throughout the entire residence,” Baker wrote. 

In the arrest affidavit for Melissa Caffey on charges of cruelty to non-livestock animals, Baker said that throughout the investigation, she learned that most of the cats that were seized from the Buda residence “were covered in ringworm due to living in feces” and were dehydrated and malnourished. 

Baker also noted that on Nov. 28, medical professionals began testing seized cats for other contagious diseases. Baker wrote that, “many of the felines tested positive for feline AIDS and/or feline leukemia, both highly contagious incurable diseases.” These cats have been kept in an animal hospital and are not among the cats outsourced for housing.

Baker asked where the two minor children were, and Melissa Caffey said they lived in a travel trailer in the backyard with their father, Thomas Caffey. Baker said Melissa Caffey told her Thomas Caffey had moved out of the house because the “animals had taken over.” Baker said that during forensic interviews, the two minors said “they lived in the residence until the CPS investigator told their mother that they could no longer live there, and at that time they moved into the travel trailer in the backyard with their father.”

After the animals were seized from the Caffeys’ residence, Baker wrote, several died. Hays County Cpl. John Trinidad ordered a necropsy done, and one of the dead cats tested positive for histoplasmosis — a highly contagious disease transferred through animal feces. The disease, which affects the lungs and can be deadly if untreated, can be transferred to humans. The affidavit states that an animal control officer who was inside the residence has tested positive for histoplasmosis and is undergoing treatment. 

Justice of the Peace Maggie Moreno signed arrest warrants for the Caffeys on Nov. 28. Thomas Caffey was arrested and released Dec. 3, according to jail records; Melissa Caffey was arrested Dec. 4 and remained in the Hays County Jail as of Thursday. For each of the Caffeys, bond was set at $10,000 per count.

San Marcos Record

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P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666