Hoarding 18 cats, 2 dogs, 2 iguanas
Omaha, NE (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Sep 19, 2006
County: Douglas
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Susan Heikes
A heartland woman is facing Humane Society citations for harboring dozens of animals in an Omaha apartment.
A neighbor's tip brought police to the home at 25th and March.
Susan Heikes lives there, right across from Lindsay Putnam.
Putnam tells Channel 6 News, "I'd always see different colors of cats, probably three at a time, mostly in the windows."
There were 18 cats inside, along with two dogs and two iguanas.
Some of the animals appear to be in good condition but others are having health problems.
Pam Wiese, with the Nebraska Humane Society says, "There was free fecal matter and urine around the house. Obviously not a sanitary condition."
Heikes isn't new to this. In November of 2000 the Humane Society impounded 27 cats and two dogs after police arrested her.
Wiese says, "When she got her legal problems straightened out we returned five cats to her. That's the legal limit in the city. She wasn't cited for cruelty at that time because there was no evidence the animals had any real problems."
Less than two years later investigators say things changed. They cited Heikes for 61 counts, including animal cruelty, no licenses, and no vaccinations.
The two iguanas are more than five-feet long and that means they're illegal in Omaha. The humane society will send them out-of-state for care and a judge will decide what happens to the other animals. References
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