There Was A Strange Smell Coming From This House, And When Police Investigated, They Couldn’t Believe What They Found

Incredible | 11/27/19

You always hope that when you buy a house, you end up with good neighbors. Your neighbors can make or break your sanity. Unfortunately, one group of neighbors got the short end of the stick when they noticed a horrible smell coming from a house on their street.

At first, they tried to ignore the smell, but then it became too strong to ignore. Eventually, the neighbors decided to take action and get the police involved. What the police found when they investigate the house shocked absolutely everyone.

No One Knew Where The Smell Was Coming From

Arriving At The House
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Yusuke Harada/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Initially, the people in the neighborhood couldn't pinpoint exactly where the bad smell was coming from. They just thought that their neighborhood had a weird stench. It was awkward for a while when everybody was trying to figure out which house was causing the smell.

Nobody wanted to point fingers, but at the same time, everybody wanted the smell to go away. They couldn't deal with not being able to walk outside without plugging their noses.

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The Smell Wasn't Getting Any Better

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Madagascar, Antananarivo, residential area in the outskirts with rice fields
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Eventually, the neighbors figured out that the smell was coming from one abandoned house on their street. They thought about entering the house illegally to find out what was causing the stench, but then they decided that this wasn't worth the risk of getting caught. Plus, they wanted to stay as far away from the smell as possible.

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They thought about contacting the police, but at the time, it seemed like they would be wasting the officers' time.

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Suddenly, The House Wasn't Abandoned Anymore

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Traditional House In Ambohimanga, Antananarivo Province, Madagascar.
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The neighbors assumed the house was abandoned, but then, all of a sudden, they noticed people entering and leaving the house. The neighbors couldn't believe that anybody would be willing to go near the house, let alone inside it.

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For a while, after they noticed people entering the house, the smell began to subside. They thought their problem had been solved, but little did they know, the problem was just beginning. They still had no idea what was causing the stench.

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The Return Of The Bad Smell

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Pinpoint The Location
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Nathan Klima for The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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The neighbors thought that the smell had gone away for good, but just when they were starting to get back to living life normally, the smell came back in full force. The neighbors had a meeting to figure out what they were going to do about this stinky problem.

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Everyone knew where the smell was coming from at this point. They decided that they had no other option but to contact the police. Somebody needed to enter the house to figure out what was going on.

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The Start Of The Police Investigation

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The police got the call and rushed over to the neighborhood in question. The neighbors showed them to the property and explained the situation. The police had no idea what they would find in that house. They thought they were prepared for anything.

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Just in case something had died inside the house, they brought along a wildlife expert and an exterminator. The neighbors thought that a dead or trapped animal might be causing the stench.

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The WIldlife Committee Got Involved

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Wildlife Committee
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This is a photo of Soary Randrianjafizanaka who is a member of the city's wildlife committee. Her department was contacted by the police after they got the call about the rancid-smelling house. Soary had a lot of experience dealing with creatures ending up in places they shouldn't.

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Randrianjafizanaka is the head of the agency, and when she heard about the smell coming from the abandoned house, she became super curious. She decided to investigate the house herself instead of sending in one of her employees.

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Where The House Was Located

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Smell
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The house in question was located in the city of Toliara, which is a place on the southwest coast of Madagascar. Madagascar is known for its lush, beautiful landscapes. The town itself is typically quiet and peaceful.

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The police didn't suspect any foul play because of the town's low crime rate. That's why they called Randrianjafizanaka. They thought this was just a case of an animal trapped in an abandoned house. Of course, this case wasn't so simple.

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All About The Environmental Agency

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Seen Their Fair Share
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The Environmental Agency in Madagascar has seen its fair share of incidents involving wild animals. Because of the country it services, the agency sees everything from feral cats to fierce predators.

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There are few animals that the Environmental Agency hasn't seen. That's they're always the first organization the police call when they think they're facing a situation that involves wild animals. The Environmental agency was prepared to deal with a decaying carcass or just a lot of cat feces.

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When They Got To The House

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When the police and the Environmental Agency got to the house, they couldn't quite figure out what was causing the small. Randrianjafizanaka was usually able to identify the smell of a dead or decaying animal, but she wasn't sure that she smelled anything quite like this before.

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She knew she would have to actually go into the house and see what was causing the smell with her own eyes if she was ever going to figure out what was going on here.

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It Looked Like A Normal House From The Outside

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Entering The Unknown
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From the outside, the house looked like a perfectly ordinary structure. There was nothing about it that signaled that it could be holding something rancid inside. The house was rather large, which meant that there was plenty of room inside for hidden secrets.

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When the environmental workers entered the house, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. If there was a live animal in there, they didn't want to scare it away.

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Venturing Beyond The Front Door

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Investigating The House
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Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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When the police and experts entered the house, the smell was so strong that many of them even became lightheaded. They were completely engulfed in the scent and had no choice but to keep moving deeper into the house.

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Still, they were yet to discover what the source actually was. Everyone on the team was trying to figure out what it could be. Randrianjafizanaka thought she might know and suggested that it could be animal waste.

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What Could Be Inside?

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Humans Or Animals
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At this point, Randrianjafizanaka was almost positive that the smell had to be animal related. Only animals trapped inside somewhere could create such a stench. However, she wasn't able to completely rule out that there may be people in the house.

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Yet, by the looks of the interior of the house, she figured that nobody could be living there in such conditions. There had been plenty of questions about the house, and she was about to get answers.

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A Rustling From Within

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They Heard A Noise
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Jim Vondruska/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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As they made their way through the house, everyone stopped in their tracks when they heard a noise. Although the sound was not very loud, it was loud enough that everyone heard it. Everyone was on their guard now, almost sure that they weren't alone.

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As it turns out, there were other people on the property. Both parties were in complete shock. This only made the police and experts more confused than they originally were.

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Why Were They Digging Holes?

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Digging Holes
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When the team came face-to-face with the other people, they had shovels in their hands. Not only that, but they were digging holes as well. They appeared to be digging the holes as fast as they could and were surrounded by objects as well.

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The team didn't know what to make of it. Everything that they were expecting to find had just gone out of the window. Not only was the house not abandoned, but there were people there digging holes.

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The People Looked Suspicious

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They Looked Guilty
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When the police approached and asked what they were doing, unsurprisingly, they began acting strange. Now, everyone knew that something was definitely off about the whole situation.

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The diggers looked like they were trying to hide something, a look the cops could see right through. As soon as the police moved closer, they dropped their shovels as if they had been caught. Yet, the team still didn't quite understand what they would be guilty for, yet.

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The Police Made An Arrest

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As if they knew they were in trouble, the diggers immediately put their hands up in the air. There was no point in running, so their only option was cooperating. The police then assumed that they did something bad and followed protocol.

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After they had arrested the suspects, the police were able to go back inside to see what the people had been hiding. So, the authorities headed back into the trashed interior of the house and braved the smell once again.

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The Floor Wasn't Stationary

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The Floor Was Moving
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Upon entering the rooms, it was clear that the interior of the house had been completely destroyed. Everything was falling apart, there was no light, and the ceilings and windows were covered in cobwebs.

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They were still looking around to find the source of the foul stench when they discovered something unbelievable. The floor was moving in certain areas of the house. At first, they were startled until they finally realized what they were looking at.

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A Whole Lot Of Tortoises

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There Were Tortoises Everywhere
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Almost the entire floor was covered in tortoises that were packed in like sardines. There were so many that it looked like they made up the entire floor. The team was speechless as they stood in disbelief.

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However, Randrianjafizanaka realized that these were no ordinary tortoises and had no clue where they had all come from. It was hard to look through the rest of the house because there were so many of them scattered everywhere.

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That Is Way Too Many

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They Needed Help
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Randrianjafizanaka immediately knew what she needed to do. She needed to get these tortoises out of the house as soon as possible and relocate them to a safe and suitable place. These animals had been horrendously treated, and it was more than likely that many of them were on the brink of death.

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It was going to be a lot of work and take a lot of time, but every second the tortoises remained in the house they were in danger.

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Not A Common Species

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Rare Tortoise
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Randrianjafizanaka knew there was something special about these tortoises, and she was right. The tortoises are rare and are known as radiated tortoises. They are rarely spotted in the wild and only a limited number of the species call Madagascar home.

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They are known for their docile nature, as well as the unique markings on their shell. It started to make sense to Randrianjafizanaka and the rest of the team why the people they arrested had all these animals.

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These Animals Are Hunted Illegally

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Poached
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Because of their rarity, these creatures are often poached by criminals. Some people even eat them as a delicacy! On the less extreme side of things, people own them as pets. However, keeping these rare tortoises is against the law, but clearly, that isn't stopping anybody.

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There are a lot of underground operations that involve stealing the tortoises and illegally selling them. At this point, the species is almost extinct because of how they are treated. This instance was especially heinous.

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An Endangered Species

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Truly Endangered
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At one point, this species of tortoises were thriving. However, in recent years, their numbers have dropped drastically. In the 1990s, it was estimated that their population was around 12 million, still a relatively low number.

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However, by 2010, their numbers had dropped to below 6 million. Now, there are only an estimated 3 million. Although the team knew that there were countless tortoises in the house they couldn't tell how many. In total, there were over 9,000 of them crammed in that small space.

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The Good News

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A Silver Lining
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Although the tortoises had been living in appalling conditions and had been horribly mistreated, they were happy that they were able to recover so many. Because many of them were sickly, a lot of care was taken in transporting them to a safe place.

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Because they had found so many, the team was hopeful that they might be able to help bring their population numbers up. Unfortunately, not everything was a good as it seemed with the animals.

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A Lot Of Sick Tortoises

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The Bad News
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Even though those helping with the tortoises were happy that they found them, they also learned the hard truth. Unfortunately, it was discovered that many of the Tortoises wouldn't survive to the next week because many of them were severely ill.

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Most of them were very dehydrated and although the vets did all they could do, they couldn't save them all. Even working around the clock, it was almost impossible to work with over 9,000 tortoises.

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The Neighbors Had No Idea

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The Neighbors Couldn't Believe It
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The people who had called the police about the smell were in disbelief by what was found inside. Not only were they surprised that there was criminal activity occurring, but that there were 9,000 endangered tortoises inside.

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It's likely, if they had never called about the issue, the culprits would have got away with their crime. Of course, the story went viral with many activists raising awareness about all kinds of animals that are mistreated as the tortoises were.

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There Are Many Cases Of Animal Cruelty

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Animal Cruelty Isn't
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Although many people have been caught, arrested, and charged for animal cruelty, it still continues to happen every day. People become so controlled by greed and money that they forget animals are living beings just like us, and deserve to be treated with respect.

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Unfortunately, the pet industry isn't always better, with many people calling for reform. Many people boycott the industry entirely because they think the animals aren't being treated as they should be, even if they are legal animals.

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The Tortoises' Future

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What To Do With Them
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All in all, around 8,000 of the tortoises survived the near-death experience. Now, the question is what to do with them. The team wasn't sure if they were ready to be released back into the wild, but they were also sure that no one facility could look after all 8,000 of them.

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After all, they had been through the worst, so now, everyone just wanted them to be comfortable and happy. It was the least they could do for them.

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A Safe Haven

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A Safe Place
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As it turns out, the tortoises couldn't be released back into the wild. This is so because they have spent much of their lives in that house. So, simply releasing them back into the wild would put them at risk of dying, or being captured by poachers once again.

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Instead, they will be looked after closely by teams of experts who will ensure that they are safe and comfortable. Now, the tortoises can finally relax.

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Moving On

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Plans
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Today, the tortoises have never had a better life. They get plenty of attention, food, water, and have a dedicated team that is beyond excited to work with them. At the moment, the first thing that the researchers are focusing on is how to get their population numbers back up.

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They have 8,000 tortoises to work with, so things are beginning to look up, not just for this group of tortoises, but the overall species.

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What Happened To The Criminals?

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Criminal Punishment
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Not only are the people who illegally hoarded these poor turtles criminals, but they're animal abusers as well. Considering the extent of their crime, many people wanted to see them receive the justice they thought the criminals deserve.

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In court, they were judged harshly and received long prison sentences for their crimes. This also helped send a message to anyone else who might be involved in such activities. Now, the criminals will know what it's like to be held against their will in a small space.