John H. Todd, 63, who said he has post-traumatic stress disorder, filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Medford last week against Klamath County, the county Animal Control office and Officer Gale McMahon, who led the June 15 seizure.
The county plans to charge Todd with 98 counts of animal neglect. First-degree animal neglect charges are a Class C felony when they involve more than 10 animals and can result in up to five years in prison, a $125,000 fine or both.
Todd said the charges are unwarranted and the search violated his constitutional freedom from unreasonable search and seizure because officers had a warrant only to view medical records, not animals.
"I felt like stormtroopers from Nazi Germany had shown up on my porch the way they acted," Todd said in a phone interview Tuesday with The Oregonian/OregonLive, alleging the officers threatened him with fines of up to $900 a day and handled his cats roughly in a seizure that lasted more than 12 hours.
He eventually surrendered the cats voluntarily. On Monday, 95 of them arrived at the Oregon Humane Society's no-kill Portland shelter. Humane Society staff said the rescue was the largest they know of in Oregon.
It all started about 14 years ago with a female cat named Happy, Todd said. Happy, who wasn't spayed, belonged to Todd's then-girlfriend in Nevada.
The cat "multiplied," Todd said, and soon he and his girlfriend had about 30 cats. Todd said he was wary of taking the cats to a shelter because he feared they would be killed there if they weren't adopted.
When he moved to Oregon six years ago, he brought the cats with him. Most had been spayed or neutered, and he tried to keep the cats separated to avoid further procreation. But the number kept growing, even more so when a neighbor asked him to take care of nine cats she'd rescued.
By the time "a convoy of white pickups" arrived at his home the morning of June 15, Todd's house was packed with almost 100 cats. Officers were overwhelmed with the "horrific" smell of cat urine, vomit and excrement when they came to the door, according to a department news release.
But Todd said he took good care of his cats. They all had names and distinct personalities, he said. He divided his 1,800-square-foot home into 19 rooms using temporary walls so he could separate sick cats from healthy ones. And he was in the early stages of building an enclosed area of his porch so the cats could roam outside without risk of being killed by coyotes, he said.
He spent an estimated $2,300 a month – more than half of his disability income, he said – buying assorted dry and wet food, litter and medicine for the cats.
"I didn't think there was a problem," he said. "I just felt like I didn't have any choice but to carry on."
Todd said his home was "on the dirty side" when officers arrived – the news release described overflowing litter boxes, and pictures show cat excrement caked on a carpet alongside trash – because he was only at the beginning of his morning cleanup circuit.
Todd, who has worked as a paralegal, is representing himself in the lawsuit. County and animal control officials on Tuesday told the Associated Press they are aware of the lawsuit but declined to comment.
Todd hopes Animal Control office will return to him a few of his favorite cats: Goofy, Sidny, Bibs, Fancy and Gizmo. He said his house feels like an "empty shell" without his pets.
"I really miss them," he said through tears. "They were my family."
(Oregon Live - June 24, 2015)
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