Cat owner appealing removal order

Moses Lake continues action against man with 29 cats

MOSES LAKE - The City of Moses Lake issued an order to citizen Brian Healy to vacate 26 of his 29 cats from his South Jefferson Drive residence.

The notice was issued after the Jan. 17 deadline given to Healy to remove the cats, City Attorney Jim Whitaker said at the Tuesday night council meeting. Healy is in the process of appealing the notice to the hearing examiner, he said.

Citizens found in violation of a city ordinance can appeal to the hearing examiner. The hearing examiner decides if Healy is in violation of the pet ordinance.

Healy was accused of being in violation of the ordinance in November following a citizen complaint to the city.

According to the city ordinance, citizens are allowed to have up to three pets per residence.

City Manager Joe Gavinski said some of Healy's neighbors have contacted city staff agreeing with the city council over the excessive cats and are in favor of removal.

He said neighbors informed him the cats are encroaching on their property.

"The cats are not contained. The cats get out," Gavinski said.

Councilmember Richard Pearce said he has had contact with citizens who live near Healy, who claim to see cat paw prints leading to and from his home in the snow.

Gavinski said the city will continue to move forward with the administrative process to have 26 of the cats removed.

Mayor Ron Covey said he is concerned over the public perception of the city council being involved with Healy. He said he read letters to the editor printed in the Columbia Basin Herald from citizens who believe the council should be dealing with more important issues.

Covey said the council began working with Healy because he came before the council, but the city is involved with enforcing the ordinance because a citizen filed a complaint.

Covey said he has received several phone calls from people who believe Healy should be allowed to keep the cats. He said some people have called and yelled at him over the issue.

Healy was not present at the council meeting.

At a previous council meeting Healy asked the council to allow him to keep all the cats because he did not think they would be taken care of appropriately if they were adopted by other people or given to organizations.