New Mexico police got a surprise when they stopped a U-Haul truck driven by a 71-year-old woman and found 63 malnourished cats in the back.

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Police in Roswell stopped the truck driven by Michigan resident Mary Jane Lyle to tell her one of the rear tail lights was out, the Roswell Daily Record said Thursday.

An officer heard suspicious noises coming from the back of the U-Haul and Lyle said she had a cat.

When he opened the back of the truck, the officer found the 63 sick cats -- two of them dead -- cramped in small spaces amid the luggage.

Lyle was arrested and charged with 61 counts of cruelty to animals to which she pleaded not guilty.

It was not clear why she was transporting so many cats.

The animals were turned over to Animal Control and health officials feared many might eventually have to be destroyed.