Cat sanctuary likely closed permanently

Alachua County Animal Services employees worked to assemble cages for the nearly 700 cats seized last week from Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary.

A controversial cat sanctuary near the city of High Springs is unlikely to reopen as a refuge for unwanted felines.  Alachua County Animal Services seized 697 cats from the sanctuary last week, the largest of its type in county history.

This week, Alachua County officials filed a notice of intent to revoke the special exception that allowed Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary to operate, Code Enforcement Director Rick Wolf said.

“The basis for requesting revocation is because of failure to comply with numerous conditions,” he said.

One such violation is the keeping of nearly 700 cats, well beyond the 200-cat limit placed on the facility.

Pennie and Steve Lefkowitz, who operated Haven Acres, have 15 days to respond to the notice, which was reportedly delivered to them on Tuesday.

“This is the first time I can remember issuing a notice of intent to revoke a zoning action,” said Wolf.

Though uncommon, he said the county’s codes do provide an outline for the process.

The revocation proceeding will require a hearing before the County Commission since Haven Acres was approved by that board through a zoning action in 2010.

Wolf said his initial conversations with the Lefkowitzes seem to indicate that they were interested in requesting a voluntary termination of the special exception, but added that the County is unable to do anything until the 15 days expires.  As of Wednesday afternoon, the hearing to revoke the special exception had not been scheduled.

In a February inspection by his code enforcement department, Wolf said Haven Acres was not violating any of the conditions imposed by the County.

“To the best of our knowledge, from a code enforcement standpoint, they had fewer than 200 cats,” he said.

Occasional odor complaints from neighboring homeowners in the Edgemoor neighborhood would prompt a closer look.  But after he and other code enforcement officers visited the site, Wolf said, “We could not substantiate odor complains that would violate the odor management plan.”

As for the jump from roughly 200 cats to nearly 700 in just a few months, Wolf attributes the change to a sharp increase in the intake of felines at the sanctuary.

Alachua County Animal Services Director David Flagler seemed to agree with Wolf.

When asked if the increase might be due to breeding, Flagler said many of the cats at the facility were spayed or neutered.

“That’s one of the things I think Pennie and Steve [Lefkowitz] did really well,” he said.

Haven Acres reportedly had a much greater reach than just Alachua County, and that might have led to a growing out of control feline population.  Organizations from as far away as Orlando were sending cats to the sanctuary according to Flagler.

“It apparently became a regional hub to take in animals,” Flagler added.

As for the 697 cats seized from Haven Acres, most have received medical treatment.  About 20 of them have been euthanized after veterinary staff determined the felines were beyond treatment, Flagler said.

Although in custody of the cats, Animal Services does not yet have ownership, which will require a hearing and an order by a judge.

After ownership is established, Flagler said the County could begin attempting to reunite some of the animals with their original owners.  He estimates that 40 percent are feral and may not be suitable as pets.

Although a major seizure of animals, the cost of the operation is not being born solely by Alachua County taxpayers.

Coordination of medical care for the cats is being handled by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which both took lead roles in the seizure.

Flagler estimates the cost to the County will be $40,000 to $50,000.  Most of that cost accounts for the overtime involved with operating two separate animal shelters.

“Given the tremendous seizure of animals, the cost to the County has been very minimal,” he said.

“The biggest cost to county residents is that we are asking them to be a little bit more patient with us as many of our officers have been assigned to the cat warehouse,” said Flagler.