Backyard breeder - 6 cats found in storage unit
Valparaiso, NE (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jul 26, 2005
County: Saunders
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Brad Hageman
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
For two scorching weeks in July, six cats called an unventilated storage unit home. The Siamese and ragdoll breeds are at the center of an animal cruelty case filed against their owner, Brad Hageman, 53, in late June in Saunders County court.
Investigators at that time had found the cats in wire cages outside Hageman's Valparaiso home.
Authorities later seized the cats after they were found in the storage unit. There they were kept in wire cages in the July heat, when temperatures reached the 100s. Hageman said the felines were given food and water each day.
Carnahan Storage owner Stacy Carnahan noticed cat urine leaking from one of the storage unit's locked doors on July 26. He investigated and found the cats.
"There were flies on their eyes," Carnahan said. "It was pitch dark, and there's no ventilation in those units. Animals aren't meant to be kept in them. I don't allow it."
The legal case stems to March, when Hageman began keeping the cats outside his Valparaiso home in wire cages because he wasn't allowed to keep pets in his house.
"I had no choice," said Hageman, who said he's raised and bred cats for more than 30 years. "I had to keep them outside. It was spring, so it wasn't cold outside, but I hated keeping them in cages. It broke my heart."
Rachelle Heavican, also a Valparaiso resident, said the cats' condition affected her, too.
"One day I saw the wire cages leaned up against the side of the house," Heavican said. "The cages weren't covered to shield them from the weather. I started thinking to myself, OK, this isn't right."
Heavican notified Saunders County authorities about the situation in late March. The case's lead investigator, Jeff Morris of the Saunders County Sheriff's Department, was on vacation and unavailable for comment this week.
Deputy Thomas Janecek said the department investigates animal cruelty complaints, but it's up to the officer to decide whether to take action.
"We check and make sure there is enough food, water and adequate shelter for the animal," Janecek said. "If all three of these things are met and there are no obvious signs of abuse or neglect, then there's not much we can do. It's all pretty much officer discretion."
Thinking the cats were still being mistreated, Heavican called the state's Agriculture Department in April, and the Bureau of Animal Industry investigated.
Hageman said the bureau gave him a month to improve the cats' living situation. He said he bought materials to make the cats' cages more comfortable but ran out of time before the deadline.
Saunders County Attorney Scott Tingelhoff filed seven charges of animal cruelty against Hageman on June 29. At that time, Hageman had seven cats; he said he put the animals up for sale after charges were filed and sold one.
"They served me with court papers and said I could spend seven years in prison for animal cruelty," Hageman said. "I'm not guilty. My cats have never been without food or water or shelter. I love those cats."
But before Hageman pleaded innocent at a July 10 hearing, the six cats disappeared. He said he sold them to someone in Sioux City, Iowa, for $3,000.
While he waited for the Iowa buyer to pick them up, Hageman kept the cats in the storage unit. When asked where the cats were, Hageman didn't mention the storage units and told authorities he sold them.
"I just wanted them to stop hassling me," he said.
Hageman said the cats were left in the storage unit for two weeks before Carnahan discovered them. Authorities seized the cats and brought them to Green Acre Animal Clinic in Wahoo.
"The animals came in pretty much the same way you see them now," veterinarian Ron Dobesh said Thursday. "I'd call them pretty healthy."
Dobesh said the clinic will hold the cats until the case is solved.
"This whole thing is just making me sick," Hageman said. "It's a nightmare. The last thing I'd do is neglect my cats."
A pretrial hearing for Brad Hageman on animal cruelty charges is set for Aug 10 and will determine a trial date.
Case Updates Saunders County cat breeder charged with seven counts of animal cruelty and neglect could be reunited with his Siamese cats just in time for Christmas.
On December 22, 2005, Saunders County Judge Marvin Miller issued his written ruling finding Brad Hageman, 52, not guilty on all counts. Miller ordered that the cats be immediately returned to Hageman and his wife. | Source: Omaha World Herald - December 23, 2005
Update posted on Dec 23, 2005 - 10:08PM |
Hageman's bench trial was held December 14, 2005 before Saunders County Judge Marvin Miller. He is charged with seven counts of animal cruelty and neglect. Each misdemeanor carries up to one year in prison.
Prosecutor Andrew Lange called four witnesses to bolster his argument that Hageman put seven cats in jeopardy by storing them outside his modular home in Valparaiso, Neb., and inside a locked storage shed for several months this year. Lincoln defense attorney Kirk Naylor called Hageman and a Wahoo veterinarian to testify.
Hageman said he put his cats outside his home in makeshift metal cages because his new landlord did not allow the animals in the house. He said he was in the process of selling the cats when police confiscated them July 26, 2005. "They're my personal pets," said the burly, gray-bearded defendant. "No way I'd ever hurt or abandon these pets."
Hageman testified that a Sioux City, Iowa, family bought one of his stud cats and planned to return July 29, 2005 to buy the remaining six for a total of $3,000.
Miller said he would issue a written ruling within days. If Hageman is found not guilty, six cats will be returned to him and his wife. The couple recently bought a house in Prague, Neb., and plan to keep the cats inside. According to testimony, the case arose after considerable pressure from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture on the Saunders County Sheriff's Office and County Attorney Scott Tingelhoff to seize the cats. Rick Herchenbach, program manager for the state agency's commercial dog and cat licensing program, testified that the cats' living conditions were cramped and unsanitary and that the animals were exposed to rain and extreme heat for months. Their food was moldy and their water was often dirty, he testified, displaying numerous photographs of the pens.
On July 26, 2005, Stacy Carnahan, owner of Carnahan Storage in Valparaiso, found six cats inside one of his unventilated rental storage units. "There were flies on the eyes of the cats. The eyes were very glossy," Carnahan said. "The previous two to three weeks were very warm. I was concerned for these cats." Hageman had rented a storage unit May 24, 2005. When Chief Sheriff's Deputy Jeff Morris seized the cats from the storage unit, the animals were inside two cages. They appeared to be in good health, Morris testified. Hageman told the court that he visited the unit every day to feed the animals. "I wouldn't have put them in there if I thought they were in danger whatsoever," he said | Source: Omaha News - December 15, 2005
Update posted on Dec 16, 2005 - 11:16PM |
Future living arrangements are at stake for six alleged victims of abuse when a rare criminal trial gets under way this week in Saunders County. Saunders County Judge Marvin Miller will decide whether Hageman is guilty of seven misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty.
Each charge carries up to one year in prison. Hageman is confident he will be found not guilty.
"I'm supporting my wife and our 5-year-old granddaughter," Hageman said. "I can't go to prison for seven years and leave them down the tubes."
Authorities in Saunders County and some Valparaiso residents want to ensure that Hageman, a cat breeder for 30 years, is not reunited with his litter of felines.
"They were just a way to get money, and the cats suffered because of it," said Rachelle Heavican of Valparaiso.
The allegations of animal abuse surfaced in March when Heavican and others complained to state officials that Hageman had seven cats that he kept outside in tiny wire cages, which exposed them to extreme weather.
Heavican said the litter boxes were rarely changed and food was moldy. The cats had no space to roam, she said.
Hageman disagrees. He said he was "placed in circumstances outside of his control."
For five years, Hageman rented a house in Valparaiso and kept his cats indoors. Last November, he moved into a modular home, and the new landlord did not permit cats inside.
Hageman built seven metal cages and kept the animals next to his porch deck.
"I hated it, but I couldn't keep them inside," he said.
After weeks of inquiry by investigators, Saunders County Attorney Scott Tingelhoff filed seven counts of animal cruelty against Hageman in June.
However, until the matter was resolved, Hageman was allowed to keep his cats. Saunders County has no animal control officer or animal shelter.
In July, Hageman called Saunders County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jeff Morris to tell him the problem was resolved. There were no cats or cages at the home when Morris made a visit.
"At that point, I thought the case was done," Morris said.
On July 26, the owner of Carnahan Storage in Valparaiso noticed a foul smell coming from one of his rental storage units. After cutting a padlock, sheriff's deputies retrieved six of Hageman's cats.
"To me, that was neglect or abuse," Morris said, "when it's 100 degrees outside and 140 or 150 degrees inside the storage bins and there's no fans."
At a cost of $30 a day to the county, the six cats were placed at Green Acres Animal Clinic in Wahoo. Recently, they were moved to the Cat House, a no-kill shelter in Lincoln, at a charge of $15 a day. They are being held as evidence.
The fate of the seventh cat is expected to come up at trial.
Hageman said the seventh cat was sold to a Sioux City, Iowa, family just days before the other six were confiscated. He said he planned to sell the remaining six cats to the same family.
"For that week and a half, I took food and water out to them every day," Hageman said. "The storage unit was not the best situation, but there was no place else to keep them covered until I made better arrangements."
If he is exonerated, Hageman hopes to be reunited with his pets. He and his wife have bought a house in Prague, Neb. There, the animals could stay inside.
"I love my cats," Hageman said, "but the county has got me in a quandary, and I can't get them back until this case is done. It tears me up inside." | Source: Omaha World-Herald - Oct 10, 2005
Update posted on Oct 10, 2005 - 10:35PM |
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