MESILLA, N.M. -- Officers with the Mesilla Marshals Department were tipped off to a gruesome case of animal hoarding at 1755 Bilbo Lane in Mesilla late Thursday afternoon. Neighbors reported an "overwhelming stench" of dead animal coming from the property. One neighbor told KFOX the odor was getting into their home through the air-conditioning vents.

Investigators with Mesilla Marshals and the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department found the odor coming from a pen where two dead horses were decomposing.

"She (the homeowner) covered one horse with two tarps, and the horse was down to its skeleton," said Robyn Gojkovich, investigator with the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department.

The owner, Carol Boyse, 57, told authorities one horse died about a month ago and the other one had died less than a week ago. Gojkovich said Boyse claimed both horses died of age and natural causes and she said she didn't seek help from a veterinarian when noticed the horses getting thin.

Authorities found three live horses in frail condition. They were kept in stalls next to the fly-infested pen. The horses' hooves were more than nine inches long and the animals had difficulty walking.

"You could see the rib bones, hips, backbone," said Gojkovich.

Officials made more animal hoarding discoveries inside the home where Boyse lives with her husband Lester, 58. Gojkovich described the house as a "giant cage" where several rooms, including a dining and living room, are sectioned off with chain-link fences that extend to the ceiling. She said the walls in the carpeted home were covered in thick layers of grime and cat fur. The kitchen and appliances were also covered in sticky fur balls, and the cabinets were shut close with child safety locks.

"The smell inside the house ... strong ammonia which comes from cat urine," said Gojkovich, who could smell it before she walked in the home.

Investigators removed 102 cats living inside the house. They said many of them had respiratory problems and eye infections.

Boyse also led investigators to four dead cats she said she was planning to bury at a later date.

"She opened the (kitchen) freezer and showed us four dead cats, and there was also frozen hot dogs and steak and food that you would cook for yourself in the freezer," said Gojkovich.

It took authorities more than 12 hours to remove the 118 live and dead animals from the property. In addition to the horses and cats, several birds, including a rooster, dove, peacock, and pigeons were removed. Investigators also found a goat, pig and dog on the property.

Charges are pending against the couple. KFOX has learned Carol works at the New Mexico State University library and Lester works as a researcher at the university.

Neighbors said the couple has lived at the home since the 1970s, and had been collecting stray animals for at least 20 years. The owner told authorities she didn't have a lot of time to care for the animals.

The horse remains will be sent to Albuquerque for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. Officials said they were only able to remove the remains of one of the horses because the other one was too badly decomposed.

The rest of the animals will be evaluated by veterinarians at the Dona Ana County Humane Society. Officials said the healthy animals will be put up for adoption, and the other ones will be euthanized.