Police in Argentina were horrified to find butchered animal parts in a woman’s fridge and dying cats and dogs crammed into her home.

Officials in San Juan Province believe she killed some of the animals and planned to dispatch the rest “to absorb their energy and not age”.

Police went to the home in the town of Santa Lucia after neighbours complained of a revolting stench and the din of barking dogs.

When officers arrived at the property, they were aghast to find it crammed with dead and dying animals.

They called animal care workers from the organisation ‘Patitas sin hogar’ to the home to collect the survivors.

Some of the animals, they said, had been locked in a pitch-black room.

The organisation’s president, Marilu Garces, told local media: “There were tonnes of faecal matter.

“You walked and it reached your ankles. Added to the smell of dead dogs, it was terrifying.”

Some reports said 14 dogs and “some” cats were rescued from the property, while other reports said only five cats and one dog were brought out alive.

Later, during a thorough search of the home, police were horrified to find butchered animals in an unplugged refrigerator.

Bafflingly, their owner – who neighbours said was often seen coming and going – told police she had slaughtered the animals to “absorb their energy and not age”.

Eyewitnesses told how she was obsessed with “the devil” and “the dark”, local media reported.

The rescued animals are now receiving veterinary care.

Police did not disclose what steps are being taken against the woman.