Four cats shot and killed Akron, OH (US) Incident Date: Thursday, Sep 30, 2004 County: Summit Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Abuser/Suspect: Daniel Fikes, Sr.

Case ID: 3877 Classification: Shooting Animal: cat View more cases in OH (US) Abuse was retaliation against animal's bad behavior Login to Watch this Case

Allegedly fed up with one kitty litter box for his family's seven cats, and pained by the breathing problems the felines brought him, Daniel Fikes Sr. reportedly took a rifle and killed four of his wife's cats.

On Thursday Feb 18 2005, Fikes was sent to prison for three years. His sentence was not so much for killing the cats in front of several children -- misdemeanor offenses -- as for illegally possessing a firearm.

As a convicted felon -- his record dates back decades -- Fikes, 57, was not permitted to possess or own a firearm.

The sentence handed down in Summit County Common Pleas Court marks another chapter in Fikes' life, which runs the gamut from exotic pet owner to the self-proclaimed ``Godfather of Pimps,'' to notorious drug dealer and now to cat killer.

He's had a crime-laden life filled with convictions dating back to the late 1960s for robbery, rape and drug trafficking.

In the 1980s, he was known for his love of exotic animals, keeping bears, lions, tigers, wolves and a leopard on a farm on Steels Corners Road in what was then Northampton Township.

In the 1990s, he and his wife, Nancy, were arrested for promoting prostitution. Fikes bragged to police that he earned six figures a year working 15 hookers in and around Akron. He served four years in prison.

At other times, he had been a hero. Once, many years ago, he saved four women in a factory fire, his attorney said, and on another occasion he saved a child trapped in a house fire.

Last October, while his wife was at a doctor's appointment, Fikes' tolerance for her cats, which irritated his breathing disorder, reached its nadir. He grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and shot one of her cats as it sat on a kitchen chair inside his McCoy Road home.

Witnesses to the shooting, according to police, were the couple's 8-year-old grandson, a 16-year-old son and a 17-year-old nephew.

As the wounded cat spread its blood throughout the house, Fikes ordered the teens to clean up the mess. He then took three more cats outside, dug a hole and shot the caged felines.

Fikes was charged with animal cruelty, child endangering and having a weapon under a disability. Last month, he pleaded guilty to all charges.

Nancy Fikes, who told reporters after the shooting that she hoped her husband would go to prison for killing her cats, on Thursday urged Judge Brenda Burnham Unruh to give him probation.

She expressed fears that her husband's incarceration would damage their family and cause her to lose their home through foreclosure.

DeLoach asked for probation. Summit County Assistant Prosecutor Margaret Kenellis, citing Fikes' criminal history, asked that he be given four years in prison.

For his part, Fikes told the judge he was sorry for what he did and that he was ready to ``take what you want to give me.''

Fikes has been in the Summit County Jail since his arrest after the shooting.

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