A 75-year-old man has been charged with animal cruelty after two dead cats were found in a southeast dumpster on Monday.

A utility worker discovered the two animals at a residence in the 2800 block of 14 Avenue S.E., while trying to save a third cat from the trash. The young, black cat managed to evade the worker and has not been seen since.

On Tuesday, Ottavio Pio Marchesan, of Calgary, was charged with two counts of animal cruelty in the case.

Police also found 15 rabbits in the yard and say they were living in deplorable conditions. They believe Marchesan was raising the animals for food.

“Pretty unusual for a major city like Calgary to have somebody growing their own food in the backyard even if it is an animal. Rabbits are eaten by some people but it still strikes us as quite strange. Definitely the violence against the cats, I don’t know who would even think that that’s reasonable at all , “ said S/Sgt Travis Baker.

Marchesan says he sees nothing wrong with raising rabbits to have a meal and says he doesn’t believe he should face charges.

“Enough. I got to go to court now. I got people coming to court with me because she says you’re no criminal. You love the bird, you love the animal, for the cat, for two little cat, to charge me is incredible,” he said.

He says there are a number of stray cats in the neighbourhood and that he was trying to protect the birds.

“Here, people have a cat and then get a dog and have a kitten and then they let it go because they cannot take it to the next place where they move. That’s not fair to the animal. I tried to clean them up, there’s a hundred cats run here, two come into my trap there. I was intending to clean up the system here not to kill the cat but I was caring for my birds,” he said.

Marchesan has been released and will next appear in court on August 20, 2015.

The Calgary Humane Society seized the animals and investigators are working to determine if additional charges are warranted.