SCRAPS orders woman to remove cats from home

A woman who operates a cat shelter in her north Spokane duplex bowed Tuesday to an ultimatum from Spokane County’s shelter professionals.

Shallona Houghton agreed to remove 12 kittens and four adult cats from her home at 307 E. Hawthorne Road after county animal-control officials threatened to charge her with misdemeanor operation of a kennel without a license.

Houghton said she hopes to get a kennel license, and a conviction for operating an unlicensed kennel would make her ineligible.

Kennels aren’t allowed at her current location, but Houghton said she hopes to buy property in an area zoned for kennels.

Houghton, 37, came under scrutiny by the Spokane County Regional Animal Control and Protection Service within three weeks after incorporating as Lona’s Ark Kitten and Feral Rehabilitation Center on March 8. SCRAPS Director Nancy Hill said the first of several complaints was registered on March 27.

Neighbors and others have complained about both the number of animals being kept in the residential neighborhood and the condition of the animals. A SCRAPS inspector found 31 cats and two dogs in the home Houghton shares with her daughters Nirvana, 20, and Marriah, 16.

Hill said the inspector noticed an “extreme cat urine odor” while standing outside the door and found “unclean conditions” inside the home.

Houghton denied Tuesday there have been any problems with the care and sanitation of the animals.

“We made some strong recommendations” and told Houghton she had 30 days to get a kennel license or comply with the residential limit of four cats and four dogs, Hill said. “We are extremely concerned when adequate standards of animal husbandry are not met.”

Later, it was discovered that kennels aren’t allowed in Houghton’s neighborhood.

Hill said Houghton was making progress in reducing the number of cats in her home, so SCRAPS held off on citing her. Then, last week, the agency received a complaint from a person who visited Houghton’s home twice to see about adopting a kitten.

The complainant said the kitten was emaciated and, like others, had feces matted in its fur, according to Hill.

She said an inspector found Monday that Houghton’s cat count had increased, so Houghton was told she would be cited Tuesday evening if she still had too many animals. Houghton told The Spokesman-Review she took in 12 kittens Sunday to keep them from being euthanized at one of the three main Spokane-area shelters.

Houghton’s excess animals were being removed Tuesday when the inspector returned with his citation book.

Houghton said she placed two dozen kittens and a diabetic cat in the homes of about 10 friends, and will attempt to arrange adoptions.

“They (SCRAPS) will be checking up just to make sure I stay with my legal four, which I will do until I can find a place where I can get a kennel license,” Houghton said. “I don’t want to ream SCRAPS because they could have cited me a long time ago. They’ve been pretty cool about it.”

Houghton said she began sheltering orphaned kittens about four years ago, in part because they need to be bottle fed every couple of hours throughout the night and she was awake anyway because of nerve damage in one of her legs.

She said three members of her corporate board of directors “walked away” because they also have too many animals. A fourth wants to remain anonymous for the same reason, Houghton said.