Man Allegedly Poisoned Pets

Criminal charges were filed this week against a Hayden man accused of poisoning his neighbor’s pets.

Kootenai County prosecutors on Wednesday filed four charges of poisoning animals against Jeffrey Scozzaro, 42.

It’s the first time anyone has been charged with the crime in Kootenai County, said Bill Douglas, Kootenai County Prosector.

If convicted, Scozzaro could face up to a year in jail on each charge.

JoAnn Solberg found her gray cat Daisy near death last week. She and a neighbor then discovered pans of antifreeze mixed with cat food on Scozzaro’s property, she said.

Scozzaro told a Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputy he was having trouble with stray cats urinating on his vehicle tires and front door.

He put the antifreeze and cat food under his pickup truck in late May, according to the sheriff’s report. Scozzaro told the deputy he didn’t know it was illegal to poison animals, according to the report.

“It is so inhumane to do what my neighbor did,” Solberg said.

Solberg took her dying cat along with a second cat and a dog to the veterinarian. One cat died and the other two animals lived.

Last Friday, however, a neighbor found a stray cat that apparently ate the antifreeze. It died.

“We regard this as a very serious matter,” Douglas said. “This involves animals which were loved and nurtured as family pets.”

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = From staff and wire reports (Idaho edition) Winda Benedetti Staff writer (Spokane edition)