Hoarding
Pennie Lefkowit Steve Lefkowit
Cat sanctuary investigated; about 500 felines removed
June 7, 2011
HIGH SPRINGS - Authorities seized 517 felines Tuesday as part of a criminal investigation involving a cat sanctuary that has been controversial for several years.
The Humane Society of the United States, which is assisting the investigation, said the number of animals involved rates it as one of the largest cases worked by the organization.
"We have done several rescue cases in the 500-animal range over the past few years, but this is definitely one of the largest (probably top 3) cat hoarding cases the HSUS has ever done," spokeswoman Jordan Crump wrote Tuesday in an email to The Sun.
The investigation at Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary, at 21023 NW 168th Lane, began about two weeks ago when an Alachua County Animal Services officer went there and found a dead cat in a cage and others that appeared to be sick, said Animal Services Director David Flagler.
"We saw evidence of a hoarding mentality," Flagler said. "It wasn't until we went out and inspected two weeks ago that we found out that they had more cats than what they were allowed. But until we got in today, we had no idea it was this many."
Flagler said the investigation focuses on animal neglect and cruelty. A forensic veterinary team is involved. Civil code violations are also possible, he added.
The sanctuary is owned by Steve and Pennie Lefkowitz, who several years ago got a special zoning exception from the County Commission to operate Haven Acres.
Neighbors in an adjacent subdivision opposed the exception, saying it was a public nuisance and possible source of pollution. The city of High Springs also objected, suing the county over the decision.
The special exception required the Lefkowitzes to gradually reduce the number of cats at Haven Acres to 200.
Pennie Lefkowitz said Tuesday the couple tried to cut the number but added that people continued to drop cats off there.
She said that the operation cost them about $33,000 last year.
"Spring happened and that's kitten season — we've had people dumping cats right and left. My husband called up absolutely furious one day — somebody had dropped off 17," Lefkowitz said. "There were some cats that were sick. You can't have cats in the hundreds and not have some sick. But I have vets that prescribe medicines. You get a cat with a snotty nose and you know you need to treat him for a respiratory [infection]. It doesn't need a $35 vet visit."
Assisting in the evaluation and removal of the cats Tuesday were veterinarians from Animal Services and the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine along with staff from the Humane Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A large, air-conditioned warehouse was found to temporarily house the cats, Flagler said. Veterinarians are examining the cats and will decide which will be euthanized, he said.
United Animal Nations, a California-based nonprofit organization, sent several volunteers from across the country to operate the temporary shelter.
"All of the decisions on the plight of these animals are being done by the veterinarians, but the mission is to save as many of these cats as we can," Flagler said.
The national agencies will help find homes for the cats in other areas because the number would overwhelm the ability of local groups to find homes here, Flagler said. A judge must first award Animal Services ownership of the cats.
Pennie Lefkowitz said she believes the seizure has been so stressful for some of the cats that some will die from it. She added she believes the national groups are using the situation for publicity.
"I'm upset because there are a lot of really nice cats," she said. "I know how the [animal rescue groups] are — they are going to make it sound like the worst thing. It gets money for them. That's the bottom line — they run on donations."
Lori Hillman, who lives behind Haven Acres, was among the neighbors who opposed the zoning exception. Hillman said she was saddened to learn that some of the cats were in bad shape.
"We have nothing against them personally," said Hillman. "We love animals. When I went over there once, I saw cats that made me cry."
697 cats seized from sanctuary, making it nation's largest case
June 8, 2011
The cats are now being held in an air-conditioned warehouse, where they are being catalogued, examined and treated for any illnesses, Flagler said.
At some point, the public will be allowed to go there so that people who had taken their cats to the sanctuary can have a chance to reclaim their pets.
A video of the sanctuary made by the Humane Society showed some cats that appeared to be healthy and alert while others appeared in bad shape — respiratory infections and eye problems, missing ears and parts of their mouths, badly matted fur.
Edgemoor resident Dana Stubblefield said she believes the county codes department and County Commission bear some responsibility for the situation by permitting the operation and not finding problems with the cats on inspections.
"I personally felt they went there, they saw what was going on and they looked the other way. You can't tell me that looking at those cats, you couldn't tell they were sick," she said. "I wish the county commissioners had come out and looked at it. I hold them partially responsible, too."
Alachua County Assistant Growth Management Director Rick Wolf, who oversees code enforcement, said he visited Haven Acres in December while another inspection occurred in March. Wolf said it appeared that the Lefkowitzes were complying with terms of the special exception, including reducing the number of cats.
Wolf said the number of cats had grown since earlier inspections and that the conditions of the facility had worsened.
"What we found yesterday was totally adverse to what the conditions required in their special exception," Wolf said.
Pennie Lefkowitz said Tuesday the number of cats had been reduced but that with spring, more cats were brought to Haven Acres.
Health Department report details ‘sanitary nuisance' of cat sanctuary
July 5, 2011
As health inspectors walked through the Haven Acres cat sanctuary in early June, they found containers of moldy cat food, discarded syringes and needles once used to inject medications, mosquitoes breeding in standing pools of water, flies swarming around uncleaned litter boxes and, inside the home, a couch and tile floor stained with cat feces.
Those are some of the details included in the Alachua County Health Department’s summary of a site visit on June 8 — the day after a cat hoarding case involving nearly 700 cats was uncovered on the property.
County Code Enforcement director Rick Wolf forwarded the Health Department report via email to county officials last Friday. In the email, Wolf wrote that “their report confirms the findings of” county code officers that Haven Acres’ owners had complied with the conditions of their permits through the previous April 7 inspection.
A County Commission hearing to revoke the special-use permit for Haven Acres, located in the unincorporated county just outside the city limits of High Springs, is scheduled for the evening of July 12.
Despite opposition from nearby residents and High Springs officials, county commissioners twice issued a permit for Haven Acres. Conditions of an early 2010 permit renewal allowed no more than 200 cats. On June 7 and the days following, 697 cats were removed.
County Growth Management director Steve Lachnicht said the owners of Haven Acres, Steve and Pennie Lefkowitz, have submitted to the county a signed letter agreeing to the revocation of the permit. A woman who answered the Lefkowitzes’ cellphone Tuesday declined comment.
The four-page Health Department report detailed findings of the June 8 inspection and follow-up inspections on June 13, 20 and 27. On their June 8 inspection, Paul Myers, the assistant director of the Health Department, and Anthony Dennis, the department’s environmental health director, found that the site “has degraded” since the last visit on April 7.
“Areas of the facility are lacking maintenance resulting in build-up of feces, urine, moldy cat food and general unkempt conditions,” the report read.
There were “very strong odors” near and within the pens and a recreational vehicle that housed the cats and within the home. The off-site odor was found to be “negligible.” But health inspectors had concerns that, if the site was not thoroughly cleaned, odor problems and stormwater run-off could lead to “significant impacts” off-site.
On June 9, the Health Department deemed Haven Acres a sanitary nuisance and ordered a cleanup. Subsequent inspections showed the cleanup progressing over a period of two weeks until, on June 27, inspectors concluded that a sanitary nuisance “no longer exists.”
Meanwhile, the county’s Animal Services division continues to compile information that will be turned over to the State Attorney’s Office to determine if animal cruelty and neglect charges against the Lefkowitzes are warranted.
Through Tuesday morning, almost 50 of the cats from Haven Acres had been euthanized because of illness, said Vernon Sawyer, an Animal Services field supervisor. He said the physical condition of most other cats has greatly improved.
With the possibility of criminal charges still looming, the cats are evidence and cannot yet be put up for adoption.
Suspected cat hoarders plead no contest
March 29, 2012
The owners of the Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary, from which 697 cats were seized in a case of hoarding last year, pleaded no contest Thursday to 47 counts of animal cruelty and were sentenced to 15 years of probation along with fines and a prohibition on owning or rescuing any cats.
State Attorney’s Office spokesman Spencer Mann said Steve Lefkowitz, 65, and his wife, Pennie, 60, also must pay $626,770 to the Humane Society of the United States as restitution for expenses and abide by other sanctions.
“They must enter mandatory mental health treatment for hoarding,” Mann said. “They must submit to inspections by the county to ensure there are no cats.”
Efforts Thursday to reach the Lefkowitzes and their attorney for comment were unsuccessful.
With nearly 700 cats, Haven Acres was the largest case of cat hoarding worked by the Humane Society of the United States — the primary agency involved in handling the animals, an organization spokeswoman said at the time of the seizures.
The Lefkowitzes had operated the sanctuary for years on unincorporated Alachua County property at 21023 NW 168th Lane surrounded by the city of High Springs.
Neighbors and the High Springs City Commission opposed the sanctuary, saying it created nuisances such as odors and noise. They also said it potentially could pollute groundwater.
Others spoke in favor of the sanctuary, saying it was ensuring the lives of unwanted cats.
County commissioners gave the Lefkowitzes a special permit to operate, which drew a legal challenge from the city of High Springs.
The permit required the Lefkowitzes to gradually reduce the number of cats to 144. But when the sanctuary was raided in June, authorities collected 697 cats — more than when the permit was given.
Some had to be euthanized because of their poor condition, but most were nursed back to health and adopted to new owners. Several hundred that were not spayed or neutered were operated on at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine before adoption events.
Mann said the Lefkowitzes will be able to keep other animals they have, including a horse.
But they will not be able to possess, rescue or care for any cat, and cannot reopen Haven Acres or participate with any animal rescue organization. In addition to the restitution to the Humane Society, which could be converted to a lien on their property, the Lefkowitzes must pay court costs.
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In March 2012, the couple operating the “sanctuary” pleaded no contest to 47 counts of cruelty to animals and was sentenced to 15 years of probation, along with fines and a prohibition on owning or rescuing any cats.
