INDIANAPOLIS -- Animal control officers are investigating a Marion County sheriff's deputy accused of abandoning 10 cats in an apartment -- littered with trash and clothing -- that she vacated this month.

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Animal Control, Sheriff's Department Investigating Slideshow:Images Of Deputy's Apartment

The Marion County Sheriff's Department also launched an internal investigation over the animal-neglect allegations against Deputy Karen Bumgart, RTV6's Jack Rinehart reported Tuesday.

Animal control officers say Bumgart abandoned the cats and didn't leave behind food or water for them when she moved out of the west-side apartment. The apartment's managers summoned the officers after Bumgart left.

"These animals cannot feed themselves -- you have to give them food to take care of them," animal control Sgt. Jerry Bippus said. "They can't open a fridge or cabinets to get food. These animals were left there to fend for themselves."

Officers let RTV6 see the apartment Tuesday. Clothes, boxes and trash were strewn throughout the unit.

Also left in the unit were parts of Bumgart's uniform, including pants, a hat and the back side of a bulletproof vest.

Officers say they've set humane traps in an attempt to capture the cats, which appear to shun human contact.

The Indianapolis Department of Public Safety, which oversees the animal control division, contacted the sheriff's department about the investigation.

"We're treating this like any other case, like any other citizen that might be caught up in a situation like this," the safety department's Lt. Brian Clouse said.

The apartment's management said Bumgart lived there for at least 20 years, and that she always paid her rent on time.

Bumgart, a 22-year veteran of the sheriff's department, could not be reached for comment. She currently works as a property crimes investigator, Rinehart reported.