Cats In The Belfry

JANUARY 5--A Tennessee man who kept 114 dead cats and a dead German Shepherd named Snowy in three freezers is suing police for seizing and destroying the frosty animal carcasses, which, he claims, had 'emotional value' to him and were destined for a pet cemetery he was building. William Davis wants $1.5 million from the Murfreesboro Police Department and other defendants, according to a complaint filed last week in Rutherford County Chancery Court. A copy of the lawsuit can be found below. According to the 75-year-old Davis, police and animal control officers raided his home twice in December 2003 and took the frozen animals, along with 46 cats, one dog, and assorted 'wild game meat.' Included among the cats removed from his home and later euthanized, Davis charges, were Pixie Bob, Miss Patchwork, and Big Duke. The searches resulted in animal cruelty charges being leveled against Davis since conditions in his two residences were deplorable. A veterinarian estimated that carpeting had a half-inch layer of animal feces ground into it and that the stench was so overwhelming it was hard to breathe through your nose without gagging (Davis pleaded guilty to a single animal cruelty count and was placed on a year's probation). The Davis lawsuit, which was, amazingly, not filed pro se, notes that he was keeping one of the frozen cats so that he could submit the animal to the Guinness Book of World Records. The lawsuit reveals that the cat was exceedingly large at birth. Davis, who's pictured above in a Rutherford County Sheriff's Office booking photo, contends that he has suffered 'emotional pain and suffering' as a result of the government seizures. (5 pages)