Officials accused of failing to adequately protect pets

By Ashley Bach
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

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Pasado's Safe Haven and a few neighbors say police and animal control were notified more than once since last summer about problems with the woman's condominium, which she filled with animals but rarely lived in.

Bellevue police and animal-control officials say their records show they did not visit the apartment until last week, but did act appropriately.

Police entered the condo July 30 and found the corpses of seven cats and a dog amid feces and garbage. The apartment reeked and was infested with fleas. The 57-year-old woman was arrested later that day on suspicion of animal cruelty.

A couple of days later, an exterminator found an eighth dead cat in the apartment that police had missed.

The woman's former neighbor at the Belmain condos, Boris Petrenko, said two Bellevue officers showed up in July 2003 to investigate after he complained about a foul odor. They then passed the case on to two animal-control officers, who came by the next day, he said.

"They just looked at the window and there was a white kitty, and they said they didn't see any problems," said Petrenko, an attorney who moved out earlier this year.

Pasado's, based in Sultan, is threatening to sue police and animal control for negligence. "We think their lack of action is what killed the animals," said group co-founder Mark Steinway.

Bellevue police say their records show their first call about the woman or her condo, at Main Street and 146th Avenue Southeast, did not come until February and was fully investigated. Animal-control officials say their first visit to the apartment was late last week, after police discovered the pets' bodies.

"I just think Pasado has taken an extreme position on something without facts to support that," said Walt Washington, county animal-services manager.

Bellevue police investigated early this year after a towing company discovered a dead cat in the woman's car, which had been impounded a month or two before. Later, neighbors said they worried about the woman's pets, as well as the woman, who they hadn't seen in a while, said Bellevue police spokesman Michael Chiu.
 
Police found the woman living in a nursing home with her mother. She and a friend, who was acting as caretaker to the pets, told officers that the pets were healthy and given care on a daily basis.

Chiu said the officers did all they could. On July 27, three days before police were notified of the dead pets, animal control received a fax from the St. Francis Animal Rights Foundation, which had received a complaint from a neighbor, Washington said. Officials followed up with phone calls.

The dead pets were discovered July 29 when concerned neighbors broke through the door.

Even if officers had approached the condo earlier, they would have had to see clear evidence of neglect, Washington said. The woman was rarely home and the windows were covered up. Only police armed with a search warrant, with probable cause, can break into a home.

"To say there was negligence was a far stretch, given the limitations of when we can act and how we can act," Washington said.

The woman was released from jail Wednesday. Bellevue police expect to finish their investigation and decide on possible charges next week.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com