THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140558
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Police removed 21 cats from a Campostella Square home Thursday despite emotional protests from the animals' owners.
Animal control workers with a search warrant entered the home in the 2100 block of Pasture Road about 11 a.m. and began caging the cats, which were kept in a small front room. The workers wore surgical-style masks because of the smell.
One-by-one, the caged cats were loaded into at least three animal-control trucks and taken away.
Owner Franklin Snell, a 57-year-old retired Navy man, threatened legal action.
He and his wife, Barbara, 54, said they have 21 cats, although police said that at times the number has been higher.
``I think this is unfair,'' Snell said. ``The people that turned me in are going to get paid back. This is police harassment. I am going to be the richest man in Chesapeake when I get done suing the police.''
Police spokesman Richard Black said the Snells have been warned or cited at least three times this year because none of the cats have been vaccinated for rabies.
Animal control officers said that as many as five cases of rabies have been reported in Chesapeake this year, which was one reason the city took action Thursday.
``With the number of rabies cases being up in the state, that's a concern,'' Black said.
Although there is no law in Chesapeake limiting the number of cats a person may keep, animals must be properly fed and maintained. Animal-control workers said the Snells may have owned more cats than they could care for in the small public-housing unit.
``Don't blame me, baby,'' Barbara Snell cooed to one of her caged cats as it waited in the bed of a pickup truck. ``It's not my fault. Don't look at me like that, it's not my fault. I told you to leave so you wouldn't get in trouble, but you kept coming back.''
The cats are being quarantined for five days, Black said.
Late Thursday, the Snells were charged with one count of cruelty to animals and not having their cats vaccinated.
If the Snells don't get their cats back at a future court hearing, Black said, the animals will be put up for adoption. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
GARY C. KNAPP
Officer M.W. Tobin of the Chesapeake Animal Control removes one of
21 cats from the Campostella Square home of Barbara and Franklin
Snell on Thursday. She wore a mask for protection from the odor.
KEYWORDS: CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ARREST by CNB