THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9407010600
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SARAH HUNTLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
The pet patrol revisited the home of the animal-loving Ferro family Thursday morning, where this time workers seized about 30 cats, five dogs and a 50-pound bag of rabbit feces, but no bunnies.
Thursday's pet raid was the second in two years at Raquel Ferro's Ghent home. In July 1992, animal control officers removed 112 rabbits, 88 cats and 12 dogs - some of whom were contentedly watching soap operas - from the house in the 900 block of Colonial Ave.
``There's upwards of 30 cats living in there,'' animal protection Lt. Phil McKeon said as he stood outside the home Thursday. ``We could smell heavy feces and urine through the front door.''
Eight animal protection officers spent about three hours rounding up the cats, most of whom were found upstairs. Also upstairs, animal control officers were puzzled to find a huge bag of rabbit feces and containers of rabbit food, but no bunnies.
Wearing surgical masks to block the stench, the pet protectors carried out cage after cage of felines and lined them up on the broad front porch.
After clearing the home of cats, the workers brought out the dogs - two Doberman pinschers, two large German shepherds and a 45-pound beagle. Paraded from the home on leashes, the dogs appeared friendly, stopping to sniff everything and everyone along the way.
Only one, an overweight Doberman, was reluctant to leave. The dog locked its hind legs and stood stubbornly at the top of the porch steps. A few minutes later, it was coaxed into a city truck.
Two of the dogs were suffering from hair loss, probably the result of flea allergies and skin irritations, animal protection Officer Mark Kumpf said. None of the animals appeared mistreated.
``We don't think there was cruelty involved. (The animals are) in pretty good shape,'' McKeon said. ``There's just too many of them.''
The city allows pet owners to house four animals, McKeon said. The cats and dogs from the Ferro residence were taken to the Norfolk SPCA, where they will be cared for until a court hearing July 19.
McKeon said Raquel and her son, Harry Jr., were charged with improper duties of ownership, obstruction of justice and about 25 counts of failure to license and vaccinate their pets. The mother and son were taken into custody around 9:30 a.m., after they allegedly tried to interfere with the raid. They were released on personal recognizance.
The police were responding to neighbors' reports and had search warrants, McKeon said. He refused to specify which neighbors had complained.
Joseph Pence, who lives across the street in the Sigma Nu fraternity house, returned home from classes to find about a half-dozen police cars and white city trucks bordering the curbs.
``The smell did get pretty bad, especially during the last couple of weeks with the hot weather,'' he said.
Pence recalled the 1992 raid when Raquel, her daughter, Shirley, and Harry Jr. were charged with cruelty to animals.
The Ferros were charged $1,000 in fines and $2,000 in boarding costs.
Most of the rabbits were given to the Norfolk Zoological Park, and the cats and dogs were returned on the condition they be housed on a relative's farm in Maryland.
``Whether or not they did that, we don't know,'' McKeon said.
Pence said it didn't take long before the Ferros started caring for pets again.
``They seemed to stop for a while after that, but then we saw the son hauling 10 to 15 50-pound bags of food from his station wagon into the house at night,'' Pence said. ``We thought, ``Oh, no, not again.' ''
Pence added that he and his housemates often saw cats sitting in the windowsills, but the dogs never came out of the home.
``It definitely puts a new spin on the term animal house,'' he said, with a laugh. ILLUSTRATION: IAN MARTIN/Staff color photos
ABOVE: A cat waits nervously outside the Ferro home in the 900 block
of Colonial Ave. in Norfolk after it was rounded up by animal
control officers Thursday.
LEFT: Animal control officer Christina Roeske looks over one of the
five dogs seized at the home.
by CNB