DATE: Thursday, November 6, 1997            TAG: 9711060474

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   50 lines

PAIR LIVING WITH ANIMALS IN FILTH ARE FINED $19,000

A couple was fined $19,000 Wednesday after a judge looked at photos and heard a prosecutor describe the Peachtree home they lived in with 21 dogs, 12 cats, two snakes and a mouse.

In late July, police responded to a neighbor's call about a domestic dispute at the house. Officers could smell the stench from the street and see feces under the front door, according to Jennifer Falcone-Moore, the prosecutor.

Lisa and Robert B. Harris' house at 3814 Peach Orchard Circle has since been condemned by the city and is scheduled for demolition in two or three weeks.

Flanked by numerous animal control officers and city Neighborhood Quality employees, a witness described the varying depths of feces that covered the floors of each room in the house.

They found water in bowls sitting on feces but no food for the animals, Falcone-Moore said.

The prosecutor said thousands of roaches swarmed out of the house and onto neighbors' property.

One officer came close to passing out, she said.

Walls had deteriorated in some places, and animals were hiding in them.

Animal control officers going into the house suited up in hazardous material protective clothing. The hazardous material team from the Churchland Fire Station assisted at one point.

Some of the animals were emaciated or suffering from open sores, an animal control warden testified. All were taken to the Portsmouth Humane Society, where they were cleaned up and euthanized.

The case was heard before General District Court Judge Morton V. Whitlow.

Lisa Harris, 29, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of improper care of an animal, 18 counts of failure to obtain rabies shots for her animals and failure to obtain licenses for her animals, and one count of creating a public nuisance.

In addition, she was found guilty of two more counts of improperly caring for an animal.

Robert Harris, 34, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of improper care of an animal and one count of creating a public nuisance.

The couple said they make a total of $2,100 a month before taxes and now live in a motel. If they fail to pay the fine, they could be held in contempt of court, which can result in jail time.

At one point, the Harrises' attorney said that it was not a situation of the animals being left at the home unattended.

The Harrises, he said, were living in the house in the same conditions.

But the prosecutor countered that the Harrises had a choice about living there, the animals didn't.

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