Daisy Terry, who rents a rent-stabilized New York apartment from a company called Heskel 1, said the odor from the animals' rotting corpses soon filled most of the building, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.

"It was so bad, we thought it was a dead body," Terry said.

"I had to hold my nose when I came down the stairs."

With the support of four city council members, Terry and several of her fellow renters have sued their landlord, accusing the company of harassment.

City council Speaker Christine Quinn said the tenants are suing under a new law that allows for litigation due to alleged landlord harassment.

"This case is not the only case of tenant harassment, but if it was the only case, it would be reason enough to have this law on the books," she said at a council meeting Sunday.

Neither Heskel 1 owners or the company's attorney had a comment on the matter, the Daily News said.