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146 cats taken from home
JournalStar.com ^ | Thursday Aug. 19, 2004 | MARGARET REIST

Posted on 08/19/2004 11:57:46 AM PDT by dangus

46 cats taken from home BY MARGARET REIST / Lincoln Journal Star The cats covered the basement floor of the small brick home in south Lincoln like a giant long-haired rug. Upstairs, the smell wafted out the front door and into the tree-lined street, right into the nostrils of Animal Control manager Jim Weverka, who found himself in the middle of the largest cat rescue his office has ever seen.

"When I first walked in the room, it looked like the floor was just fur," Weverka said. "Then we realized they were cats. Real cats."

A total of 146 of them, in one basement, in one little house, in violation of a number of laws.

"This is the highest number of cats we've ever picked up in the history of Animal Control," Weverka said Wednesday, a day after someone anonymously reported a strong ammonia or urine smell coming from the house at 4120 Linden St.

Tuesday afternoon, an Animal Control officer went to the home. The residents let him in but not downstairs at first. The officer called police, other Animal Control officers, the city-county Health Department and Weverka.

"I could smell it the moment I got in the middle of the street," Weverka said of the odor.

When the residents finally let officers downstairs, it appeared they had tried to clean up, Weverka said, and there was little feces on the floor.

Animal Control officers found nearly all of the cats in a 12-foot by 13½-foot basement room. They were on the floor, on a mattress, on white plastic chairs. Several cages in another room held eight or nine cats.

A yellow ring, left by male cats spraying the area, surrounded the concrete block walls, Weverka said. There was no evidence of litter boxes or food, though there were several water bowls.

The house was not air-conditioned, nor did it have hot water, Weverka said.

Police said Rickey Meyer, 49, who was living in the basement of his mother-in-law's home with his wife,SharonMeyer, was ticketed.

Mentha Grabowski, Meyer's mother-in-law, lived upstairs. She told authorities she didn't know that many cats were living in her basement. She declined to comment for this story.

Meyer was ticketed on suspicion of:

* Having cats without a license.

* Unsanitary conditions.

* Exceeding the legal number of cats.

* Not having a license to breed cats.

He could not be reached to comment.

City ordinance allows residents to have up to five cats without a permit and up to 15 with a permit.

Weverka said he plans to add a charge of animal neglect after all of the cats are thoroughly examined.

Initial examinations showed that many of the cats were underweight and had teary eyes. All of them had ear mites. Their coats and teeth were in poor condition, too, and some had scars from fights.

Donna Bode, director of development and fund raising at the Humane Society, said most of the cats weighed about half as much as they should.

It's too early to tell how many will be able to be adopted, she said.

"We're going to do the very best we can to place as many as we can," she said.

Animal Control officers also took a dog belonging to Grabowski. The dog was licensed, and officers returned it to her after examining it, Weverka said.

Meyer told officers that about five years ago he had just four cats. The feline family grew from there.

"They weren't spayed or neutered, and they just started reproducing," Weverka said.

Many of the cats look similar: black and white or gray, some with Siamese coloring.

The cats are all being housed at the Capital Humane Society, Bode said, and the full house is taxing the shelter.

About 100 cats already were at the shelter when these cats arrived, Bode said.

They are being held in dog cages, and the Humane Society is asking for donations of cash or supplies to help. Bode estimated employee overtime costs could reach $4,000 and medical costs up to $6,000.

This is the third sizable cat case in recent history, Weverka said. In July 2003, Animal Control officials rescued 78 cats and two dogs from a house on South Street. This spring, they rescued 40 cats from a north Lincoln home, Weverka said.

Steve Hale lives next door and could occasionally catch a whiff of the odor, but it didn't bother him. He gets along fine with his neighbors, he said.

He often saw them bringing home bags of cat litter.

"I just figured they had a few cats."

Reach Margaret Reist at 473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: animalabuse; animalrights; catlovers; cats; ihatecats
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It's the photo that counts:

Pissed off little kitties, the whole lot, aren't they?

1 posted on 08/19/2004 11:57:46 AM PDT by dangus
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To: dangus

Don't mess with the kitties


2 posted on 08/19/2004 12:00:39 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: dangus

146? Here kitty, kitty!


3 posted on 08/19/2004 12:01:20 PM PDT by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
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To: dangus; TheBigB; Zavien Doombringer; MeekOneGOP

If you thought the VKs had a lot of members...


4 posted on 08/19/2004 12:05:26 PM PDT by 4mycountry (Lady Morganna, Thrower of Spells and Heavy Objects, Keeper of the Wood Shampoo, poster of 11,111)
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To: Xenalyte

Mr. Xena get busted? (he has like buttloads o' cats, ya?)


5 posted on 08/19/2004 12:08:43 PM PDT by Shryke (Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.)
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To: 4mycountry; dangus; TheBigB; Zavien Doombringer; lilylangtree; stainlessbanner; Shryke
If you thought the VKs had a lot of members...

Can you just IMAGINE mealtimes there ??? .....



6 posted on 08/19/2004 12:10:17 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: Shryke; Bacon Man; Hap
Actually, the Guy and I only have the three felines, plus the Dread Boston Salty.

It's Bacon Man you're thinking of; he and his lovely wife Hap have eight tussums.
7 posted on 08/19/2004 12:13:30 PM PDT by Xenalyte (You don't eat crackers in the bed of your future, or you get all . . . scratchy.)
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To: MeekOneGOP
Me, I dunna like cats. At ALL. If I was the animal control officer I'd throw a Wolverine down there and come back in an hour*.

Yes, I carry the Ronco Pocket Wolverine.

8 posted on 08/19/2004 12:14:46 PM PDT by Shryke (Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.)
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To: Xenalyte
Ah. . My nose is already running. What is a Dread Boston Salty?
9 posted on 08/19/2004 12:16:43 PM PDT by Shryke (Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.)
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To: Shryke
I have never had a cat for a pet in my life. Many dogs, and a number of parakeets.

Here is a dog ("Larry") my good buddy picked up last Saturday:



10 posted on 08/19/2004 12:18:03 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: stainlessbanner
* Having cats without a license.

Huh!?

11 posted on 08/19/2004 12:24:23 PM PDT by 4CJ (||) Men die by the calendar, but nations die by their character. - John Armor, 5 Jun 2004 (||)
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To: Shryke
There's only one Dread Boston Salty! He's 27 pounds of pure methane-producing Boston terror - I mean terrier.

He knows he's a looker, and he's quite the ladies' man. He will flirt with anything in heels.


12 posted on 08/19/2004 12:28:20 PM PDT by Xenalyte (You don't eat crackers in the bed of your future, or you get all . . . scratchy.)
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To: dangus

Self-ping!


13 posted on 08/19/2004 12:36:12 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (Am Yisrael Chai!)
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To: 4ConservativeJustices

It's the first step to outlawing cats. If kitties are outlawed, only outlaws will own kitties.


14 posted on 08/19/2004 12:39:55 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: MeekOneGOP; Xenalyte
Ahhh, great pictures. Dogz rule, yo.

I really can't take to an animal that would watch with interest as a burglar (or worse) broke into your house.

15 posted on 08/19/2004 12:40:45 PM PDT by Shryke (Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.)
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To: stainlessbanner
If kitties are outlawed, only outlaws will own kitties.

Worth repeating ;o)

16 posted on 08/19/2004 12:51:19 PM PDT by 4CJ (||) Men die by the calendar, but nations die by their character. - John Armor, 5 Jun 2004 (||)
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To: Shryke
Thanks.

I really can't take to an animal that would watch with
interest as a burglar (or worse) broke into your house.

haha! Yeah, really. :^)


17 posted on 08/19/2004 12:54:26 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: Xenalyte
We had a Boston TERROR once, most hyperactive dog I ever saw.

Dogs doing speed looked calm in comparision.

18 posted on 08/19/2004 12:54:44 PM PDT by 4CJ (||) Men die by the calendar, but nations die by their character. - John Armor, 5 Jun 2004 (||)
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To: stainlessbanner
The house was not air-conditioned, nor did it have hot water, Weverka said.

What does a cat do with hot water?

19 posted on 08/19/2004 12:56:16 PM PDT by 4CJ (||) Men die by the calendar, but nations die by their character. - John Armor, 5 Jun 2004 (||)
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To: Xenalyte; Hap; Shryke
It's Bacon Man you're thinking of; he and his lovely wife Hap have eight tussums.

And I would just like to say for the record that the Ham and Bacon Tussum Adoption Agency is officially not taking any more borders for at least a decade, probably more.

20 posted on 08/19/2004 1:27:41 PM PDT by Bacon Man (Guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.)
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