Pet store neglect
Iowa City, IA (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Dec 18, 2008
County: Johnson

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Tammara Jo Meester

The owner of Pet Central Station was charged Thursday with keeping animals in unsanitary conditions.

According to the Iowa City Police online arrest blotter, Tammara Meester, 47, was charged with three counts of animal abuse. Misha Goodman, director of the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center said her office had received complaints about the conditions the animals were being kept in. Goodman said there was litter, dirt and bodily fluids in and around the kennels.

Goodman said the other two charges stemmed from the number of animals being kept in kennels.

Meester said she did not think the charges were warranted and questioned where Goodman had the authority to issue the charges.

"We are cleaning constantly," Meester said. "Any person who works with animals ... knows you can clean and two minutes later they've dumped their litter."

Meester said she plans to fight the charges, which are all simple misdemeanors.

According to online court records, Meester was charged with cruelty to animals in 2006, but that charge was dismissed.

A Google search shows at least 15 reviews on Yahoo Local, with most users rating 1 star.

References

• Press Citizen - Dec 20, 2008

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