This is pretty terrible
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2003 10:31 pm
Sick kitties crowd Lincoln shelter BY LEAH THORSEN / Lincoln Journal Star
Ashort-haired, Oriental cat with ulcers on her tongue, fleas infesting her dirty fur.
Awhite torti, bald in places, suffering from parasitic skin disease and a nasty ear infection.
A pregnant orange tabby with mites in her ears -- her head and back covered in scabs.
Those are three of the 78 cats and two dogs Animal Control says it rescued Friday from a house at 5020 South St.
No charges were filed Wednesday against Judy A. Funkey and Lorraine E. Beil, who own the house.
Both women were ticketed a day earlier on suspicion of animal neglect, animal cruelty and violating city sanitation laws.
"At this point, we're denying everything," said D. Kirk Wolgamott, the Lincoln attorney representing Funkey.
No one answered the door at the house Wednesday evening.
Of the 78 original cats, 76 were brought to the Capital Humane Society. Two of those were euthanized Wednesday morning -- one at the request of its owner who realized how sick it was and the other because of acute illness, said Bob Downey, executive director.
One cat died almost immediately after being taken from the house.
The whereabouts of the 78th cat was unknown Wednesday night.
The shelter is holding about twice the number of cats it normally houses this time of year after the rescue, Downey said.
"We're stretched to the limits,"he said so stretched that the shelter parking garage is being used to house them.
The shelter had to rent four fans at a cost of $400 a week and make costly alterations to the garage air-conditioning system to keep the cats cool, he said.
"We've pretty much turned the garage into a MASH unit," Downey said.
One cat and one dog have been claimed by their owners.
Downey said that the cat's owner said she gave her cat to Funkey in May and was shocked Wednesday by its poor health.
"It's incredible how this cat deteriorated from the end of May until today," Downey said. "Nobody can plead ignorance."
Animal Control has been suspicious of Funkey for several years, said agency manager Jim Weverka.
Five years ago, Animal Control went to a house Funkey owned, but the carpets had been ripped off the floor and she was cleaning furiously, Weverka said.
No cats were there at the time.
But Funkey's longtime friend and cat enthusiast Linda Lyman says the women are being unfairly accused of mistreating animals.
"Judy is very knowledgeable and the conditions that Mr. Weverka describes are impossible," Lyman said.
She said Funkey had been caring for her 20 cats since the beginning of June, when Lyman became ill with an infected abdomen. Lyman is recovering at the Waverly Care Center.
Lyman said she moved from Lincoln to rural Waverly in October so she wouldn't have to give up her cats. City law requires anyone with more than five cats to have a permit.
She also is upset at the cost to claim her cats: a $75 veterinarian's fee to examine the cats after they were taken from the house.
Owners also must pay a $5 deposit for a rabies vaccination if there is no proof of rabies shots, a $12 charge if the cat is sterilized and $24 if not, Downey said.
According to a search warrant, Animal Control had periodically received complaints about "unlicensed and diseased cats in unsanitary conditions" at the house.
John Lowry, an Animal Control supervisor, said he asked Beil if he could inspect the house on July 21 and she refused.
Beil said she had lived there for three months, but on Dec. 8 she also listed the residence as her home in a theft complaint, according to the warrant. It said Beil also had told Lowry that Funkey had moved out of town.
Lowry also said he smelled cat urine and feces while standing 50 feet from the door, the warrant said.
Lincoln police had no criminal record for either woman.
Attorney Wolgamott said his client will plead not guilty.
"I'm anticipating a slew of counts," he said, maybe as many as three charges per cat.
The cats will be held through the weekend, and officials will meet Monday to decide the cats' futures.
Meanwhile, Lyman is furious that her cats were taken and that Funkey's reputation has been smeared.
"The cats have been stolen and a very good person's name is being blackened," Lyman said. "And Ithink that is very wrong."
Ashort-haired, Oriental cat with ulcers on her tongue, fleas infesting her dirty fur.
Awhite torti, bald in places, suffering from parasitic skin disease and a nasty ear infection.
A pregnant orange tabby with mites in her ears -- her head and back covered in scabs.
Those are three of the 78 cats and two dogs Animal Control says it rescued Friday from a house at 5020 South St.
No charges were filed Wednesday against Judy A. Funkey and Lorraine E. Beil, who own the house.
Both women were ticketed a day earlier on suspicion of animal neglect, animal cruelty and violating city sanitation laws.
"At this point, we're denying everything," said D. Kirk Wolgamott, the Lincoln attorney representing Funkey.
No one answered the door at the house Wednesday evening.
Of the 78 original cats, 76 were brought to the Capital Humane Society. Two of those were euthanized Wednesday morning -- one at the request of its owner who realized how sick it was and the other because of acute illness, said Bob Downey, executive director.
One cat died almost immediately after being taken from the house.
The whereabouts of the 78th cat was unknown Wednesday night.
The shelter is holding about twice the number of cats it normally houses this time of year after the rescue, Downey said.
"We're stretched to the limits,"he said so stretched that the shelter parking garage is being used to house them.
The shelter had to rent four fans at a cost of $400 a week and make costly alterations to the garage air-conditioning system to keep the cats cool, he said.
"We've pretty much turned the garage into a MASH unit," Downey said.
One cat and one dog have been claimed by their owners.
Downey said that the cat's owner said she gave her cat to Funkey in May and was shocked Wednesday by its poor health.
"It's incredible how this cat deteriorated from the end of May until today," Downey said. "Nobody can plead ignorance."
Animal Control has been suspicious of Funkey for several years, said agency manager Jim Weverka.
Five years ago, Animal Control went to a house Funkey owned, but the carpets had been ripped off the floor and she was cleaning furiously, Weverka said.
No cats were there at the time.
But Funkey's longtime friend and cat enthusiast Linda Lyman says the women are being unfairly accused of mistreating animals.
"Judy is very knowledgeable and the conditions that Mr. Weverka describes are impossible," Lyman said.
She said Funkey had been caring for her 20 cats since the beginning of June, when Lyman became ill with an infected abdomen. Lyman is recovering at the Waverly Care Center.
Lyman said she moved from Lincoln to rural Waverly in October so she wouldn't have to give up her cats. City law requires anyone with more than five cats to have a permit.
She also is upset at the cost to claim her cats: a $75 veterinarian's fee to examine the cats after they were taken from the house.
Owners also must pay a $5 deposit for a rabies vaccination if there is no proof of rabies shots, a $12 charge if the cat is sterilized and $24 if not, Downey said.
According to a search warrant, Animal Control had periodically received complaints about "unlicensed and diseased cats in unsanitary conditions" at the house.
John Lowry, an Animal Control supervisor, said he asked Beil if he could inspect the house on July 21 and she refused.
Beil said she had lived there for three months, but on Dec. 8 she also listed the residence as her home in a theft complaint, according to the warrant. It said Beil also had told Lowry that Funkey had moved out of town.
Lowry also said he smelled cat urine and feces while standing 50 feet from the door, the warrant said.
Lincoln police had no criminal record for either woman.
Attorney Wolgamott said his client will plead not guilty.
"I'm anticipating a slew of counts," he said, maybe as many as three charges per cat.
The cats will be held through the weekend, and officials will meet Monday to decide the cats' futures.
Meanwhile, Lyman is furious that her cats were taken and that Funkey's reputation has been smeared.
"The cats have been stolen and a very good person's name is being blackened," Lyman said. "And Ithink that is very wrong."
Three of my cats were strays and before we moved three years ago to our new house, there were two more strays living in the woods in our backyard that we fed. We lived off of a main highway that was great for dumping cats as well. I pass by that house almost everyday to work and I think about them from time to time. I hope that someone did take them in. I felt so bad leaving them! Glassboro has a pet owership restiction of no more than 3 cats and 3 dogs. Like I said, I have 4 cats but they "grandfathered" one in.