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Home My WebLink About961236.tiff Weld County Animal Control Weld County n. -. 1100 10th Street, #202 Greeley, CO 80631 3 Re: Jean Ann Winger v. City of Lakewood, 'et. al . Our File No. 9942-B To Whom It May Concern: This letter will serve as my notice of intent to sue the State of Colorado, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Dr. John Maulsby, DVM, Dr. Keith A. Roehr, DVM, the Jefferson County Board of County -Commissioners for Jefferson County, Dr. Suzanne Hetts, Nathan Markum, the Sheriff of Jefferson County, Steve Vince, John Doe, a Jefferson County Sheriff' s Deputy whose true name is unknown at this time, the Lakewood City Council, Lois Engbretson, the Lakewood Police Department, the Table Mountain Animal Center, Dr. Joni Edwards, Lakewood Animal Control , the Lakewood Zoning Department, Pat Greer, Doug Kelly, Lona Greene, the Sheriff of Weld County and Weld County Animal Control . I have discrimination claims including, but not limited to, deprivation of civil rights under 42 U.S .C. §1983 , defamation, harassment, false accusations of misconduct , negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, denial of opportunity and other tort claims . My address : Jean Ann Winger 4470 E . Jewell Ave . , Apt . 212 Denver, Colorado 80222 My attorney is : Presently, pro se. I am a disabled individual and founder of the non-profit corporation Tabby Cat Rescue and Adoption, Inc. [hereafter, "TCRA"] in April, 1991 . The mission of TCRA is to find above- average adoptive homes for stray and/or surrendered cats . I was operating my business from a location situated at 8700 W. Colfax, Lakewood, CO, [hereafter, "Colfax location"] when the landlord broke the lease and forced me to close in November, 1995 . I also placed cats for adoption through various Petsmart stores and continued to do so when I was without a business location of my own. I had no choice but to relocate a large number of cats from my business address to my home address at 1385 Brentwood, Lakewood, CO [hereafter, "Brentwood location"] while I negotiated a new lease . I was reluctant to do so because I had been ordered by the City of Lakewood to keep no more than three adult animals fdie : -• ,SOjCFI 961236 in my home after a previous ordinance violation. My reluctance was intensified by the warning I received from Lona Greene of the Lakewood Zoning Department on July 10 , 1995, when Ms . Greene was conducting an inspection of my residence to verify compliance with the order. With clenched fists, Ms . Greene told me, "The next time we catch you accumulating cats, we are going to come down hard on you, regardless of the health of the cats . " In December, 1995, I signed a lease for a storefront location at 5860 W. 38th Avenue, Lakewood, CO [hereafter, "38th Avenue location"] and planned the grand opening of my business for January, 1996 . However, the landlord "changed his mind" shortly after I took possession of the premises in mid-December, leaving me with over one hundred cats and nowhere to place them. Curiously, I was regularly able to enter into lease agreements to operate my business . However, whenever I notified Dr. Roehr that my business location was changing, as I was required to do by law, my landlord would suddenly change his mind and break the lease agreement . Because the landlord broke his lease agreement with me, I was forced to keep the cats at the Brentwood location. My compassion for the stray cats often prompted me to utilize my own limited disability income for their care and, unfortunately, because I had failed to pay my own rent , I was also faced with eminent eviction from my home . On December 24 , 1995, Rebecca Furr and I negotiated a verbal lease agreement . We agreed that I would keep my cats and live at a vacant home which Ms . Furr owned in Ft . Lupton and, in exchange, I would care for her horses that were stabled at that location. I had already packed my belongings at the Brentwood location and moved over half of the cats to the Ft . Lupton location when on or about December 28 , 1996 , the Jefferson County Sheriff' s Department arrived at my home and unlawfully evicted me . I was subsequently placed under arrest for failure to pay a fine and was taken to Jefferson County jail while deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff' s Department supervised the removal of my belongings from the residence . Ms . Furr and I had already loaded all but 12 of the cats in her horse trailer. Lakewood Animal Control then arrived and captured as many of the remaining cats as possible, removing them from the premises, and my care, without due process . I was subsequently charged with unwarranted counts of cruelty to animals and ordinance violations . Lakewood Animal Control took possession of approximately 30 cats at the Brentwood location and placed them at the Table Mountain Animal Center [hereafter, "TMAC"] . On or about December 29 , 1995, Rebecca Furr advised Lakewood City officials that she did not want to be responsible for my animals . She assisted the Lakewood Animal Control in collecting the approximately 96 remaining cats , which were either in her possession or located at the Ft . Lupton residence, and assisted with their transport to TMAC. After my release from jail, I went to the TMAC and asked to sep my cats . I also brought along the prescription medicine I: received from veterinarian Dr. Jeff Young for the three cats who were sick. TMAC falsely informed me that all but three of the cats had entered the center with various conditions including ear mites, ringworm, tapeworm, dehydration, chin acne, head lesions, head trauma, upper respiratory problems and need of dental work. All but three of the cats were healthy while they were in my care . TMAC subsequently disposed of the animals by euthanizing more than half the cats and allegedly securing adoptive homes for the remaining cats , even though I went to the trouble and expense of obtaining yet- another leased space in order to have a place to take my cats as required by the Lakewood Municipal Court as a pre-requisite for the return of my cats . I was at a loss to explain any head trauma suffered by my cats or my landlord' s accusation of broken windows at the Brentwood location. Upon information and belief, Lakewood Animal Control beat the cats who were hiding on the window ledges, and at the Ft . Lupton residence, causing the head trauma, broken windows and carpet stains and creating a situation where Lakewood Animal Control was culpable for cruelty to animals . I have been ordered by the Lakewood Municipal Court to pay TMAC the exorbitant sum of $18 , 245 . 52 for the alleged cost of caring for and boarding the cats which were taken from me without my permission and against my will . In addition, I was never informed that any of the cats taken from my home would be euthanized. The cats were euthanized because they were over the age of three . Their deaths were unnecessary because my best success is in placing older cats and taming feral cats . I am being forced to pay costs which were unnecessary because my cats were healthy at the time they were boarding with me and I was denied due process in the unauthorized removal of her cats . I believe that these activities are a continuation of the discrimination and harassment to which I have been subjected for some period of time . This harassment and discrimination have caused me severe emotional and physical distress . In addition, the actions of the above-named persons have deprived me of my livelihood and then they turned around and billed me for the care of my own animals , without reimbursing me for my time and expenses , for the cats which were unlawfully removed from my care . I seek damages of not less than $5, 000 , 000 . 00 . Very truly yours, Jean Ann Winger /AL/%7 June 20, 1996 Y State of Colorado 1525 Sherman St . , 5th Floor Denver, CO 80203 Colorado Department of Agriculture 700 Kipling St . , Suite 4000 Lakewood, CO 80215 Nathan Markum Investigator - Colorado Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Protection 700 Kipling St . , Suite 4000 Lakewood, CO 80215 Dr. John Maulsby, DVM 700 Kipling St . , Suite 4000 Lakewood, CO 80215 Dr. Keith A. Roehr, DVM 700 Kipling St . , Suite 4000 Lakewood, CO 80215 Board of County Commissioners Jefferson County 100 Jefferson County Parkway Golden, CO 80419 Sheriff of Jefferson County Jefferson County 200 Jefferson County Parkway Golden, CO 80419 Steve Vince Deputy/Civil Division Jefferson County Sheriff' s Department 200 Jefferson County Parkway Golden, CO 80419 John Doe Deputy Jefferson County Sheriff' s Department 200 Jefferson County Parkway Golden, CO 80419 Lakewood City Council 445 S . Allison Parkway Lakewood, CO 80226 Lois Engbretson 445 S . Allison Parkway Lakewood, CO 80226 Lakewood Police Department 445 S . Allison Parkway Lakewood, CO 80226 Table Mountain Animal Center 4105 Youngfield Service Road Golden, Colorado 80401-1650 Dr. Joni Edwards VCA Anderson Animal Hospital 1285 South Sheridan Boulevard Lakewood, CO 80226 Dr. Suzanne Hetts 4994 South Independence Way Littleton, CO 80123 Lakewood Animal Control 445 S . Allison Parkway Lakewood, CO 80226 Lakewood Zoning Department 445 S . Allison Parkway Lakewood, CO 80226 Pat Greer Lakewood Animal Control 445 S . Allison Parkway Lakewood, CO 80226 Doug Kelly Lakewood Animal Control 445 S . Allison Parkway Lakewood, CO 80226 Lona Greene Lakewood Zoning Department 445 S . Allison Parkway Lakewood, CO 80226 Board of County Commissioners Weld County 1100 10th Street, #202 Greeley, CO 80631 Sheriff of Weld County 910 10th Avenue Greeley, CO 80631 Hello