Columbia Animal Control seizes 52 animals from home, woman faces charges

COLUMBIA — Columbia Animal Control seized 47 cats, three dogs and two birds from a home on the 2700 block of Pine Drive on Wednesday.

Animal Control Supervisor Molly Aust said they originally received a call from a mail deliverer at the beginning of the month about a camper in the front yard of the residence that appeared to have numerous cats and smelled of urine. Aust said they responded to the complaint the following day and made contact with the homeowner and asked the homeowner to make changes. Aust said they then found out that the home had way too many animals and also ducks on the property, which is a violation of state and city code. Aust said ducks are considered livestock and must be on acres of land and city code only allows four adult pets in the home. When researching vaccinations for the animals, Aust said they found there weren't any and said the last veterinary visit some had was back in 2010.

"We had off and on content with them, we gave them until August 19 to get some numbers down, get some vaccinations done, to get rid of the ducks, just regulations the city has and they failed to comply," Aust said.

Animal Control then sought out a warrant through circuit court and served the warrant Wednesday. The homeowner now faces animal abuse and municipal charges.

Aust said when going in to seize animals, they found children were living in the home.

"Not only are you dealing with just the animal aspect at that time, then you're also dealing with children in the home and emotional. I think a lot of the officers have trouble When we run across that. Normally, when we have these cases, it is just animals with having a child involved. This is something that's not real common," she said.

As a result, animal control had to take all the animals to the Central Missouri Humane Society who already had a great amount of cats. Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator Megan McBride said they are feeling a bit overwhelmed with the situation.

McBride said they were already running low on supplies, but now, they need items such as litter, metal feeding bowls, paper towels, cake pans, bleach, toilet paper and fleece blankets.

To free up some much needed cage space, the CMHS will be holding an adoption event this weekend where they'll be waiving all adoption fees for cats and kittens.

Both animal control and CMHS said they know it'll be on the community, but anything helps.