A complaint about hungry, noisy cats in a Fairview supermarket is sure to leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Nasema Dashti contacted the SPCA Aug. 13, telling an investigator she’d witnessed cats being kept in the basement of the Green Valley Market on Dutch Village Road.
“Cats were described as malnourished and yowling behind the basement door of store,” Shannon Woodworth, a special constable with the Nova Scotia SPCA, said in an application for a warrant to search the basement.
When Dashti opened the door, two cats ran out.
“And she saw more in the basement at bottom of stairs,” Woodworth said.
‘Odour of old fod and garbage’
Dashti said “there was an odour of old food and garbage coming from the basement as well,” according to the investigator.
After she opened the door, Dashti said “a man began shouting profanity in Arabic and insinuated harm would be inflicted on the cats,” Woodworth said in information to obtain a search warrant filed at Dartmouth provincial court.
The man wouldn’t let a child who was in the store speak to Dashti when she asked about the cats, she told investigators.
He swore at the child, telling them to shut up, she said.
“These cats are f—ing trouble,” he allegedly said in Arabic, “not knowing” that Dashti, an employment and education consultant with the Halifax Refugee Clinic, also spoke Arabic.
An SPCA special constable in training, Cassandra Simms, took a statement from Dashti.
‘Brings his cat in daily’
Three days later, Simms and Woodworth visited the supermarket and asked to speak with the owner or manager.
“A young boy brought officers to a man identifying himself as Ahmad Abualkas. Woodworth inquired as to cats on the property, the man said his cat is downstairs, he brings his cat in daily. When asked to do an inspection of the cat, Abualkas stated officers could go downstairs with him and look.”
When Woodworth walked down the stairs “at the very bottom, next to a door, there was a deceased kitten,” said the investigator.
“Woodworth cautioned Abualkas; the caution was also translated in Arabic.”
The investigator asked who owned the kitten.
“Abualkas, unfazed by the deceased cat, stated he did not know who owned the cat and (that he) would get rid of it,” Woodworth said.
“After further questioning, Abualkas stated it may have been a kitten from his own cat. Abualkas later stated it was a stray that a customer let into the store and stated to Simms that the kitten came in through the loading dock and Abualkas was unable to catch it therefore (it) now resides in the basement.”
‘Rodents in the building’
Abualkas told investigators he brings his one cat into the market during business hours, but takes it home again with him at night, Woodworth said.
“This is due to rodents in the building.”
Abualkas still consented to the inspection of his cat and its living conditions, said the investigator.
As Woodworth was speaking with him, “Simms spotted a cat which Abualkas stated was his. The cat was noted to be very thin and itching profusely. The cat’s eyes were squinty, and it had brown discharge coming from its eyes and nose.”
Simms then noticed another cat hiding nearby.
“Abualkas stated he did not know about the cat. Simms noted a healed wound on the cat.”
‘Large quantity of feces’
The basement contained a “large quantity of feces, bigger in size than a cat would normally produce. When questioned about any other animals being placed in the basement, Abualkas stated there was no other animals.”
Woodworth and Simms both brought up the idea that there had been a dog in the basement.
“Abualkas said no, again a dog was brought up. The young child stated there used to be a dog in the basement. Abualkas said no however then stated someone who uses the basement as storage for guitars left his dog downstairs.”
The basement “was very dark as there was no lighting,” Woodworth said.
“There was debris and boxes piled to (the) ceiling everywhere making it hard at quick glance to see any other animals,” she said.
With one dead kitten, and Abualkas saying that may have been a litter from his cat, Woodworth believed there could be more felines on the property.
‘Decomposed animal ripped open’
Abualkas wasn’t being forthcoming with information on the cats at the store, she said.
“Woodworth viewed a decomposed animal ripped open resembling a cat hidden in a corner. Abualkas did not, to Woodworth’s knowledge, know Woodworth had seen the deceased animal. There were also bloodstains on the floor and lots of very dark/orange /red tinted feces scattered throughout the basement.”
At this point, “Woodworth realized the severity of the file,” and decided she needed a warrant to gather more evidence.
She seized two cats from the business and one deceased cat.
‘Indent the size of kitten’s head’
“When Woodworth and Simms removed the deceased kitten, a piece of dry wall fell out with an indent the size of the kitten’s head. Woodworth believes kitten’s head was slammed into wall by the door adjacent to stairs.”
Woodworth convinced a justice of the peace to grant a search warrant for the business.
Woodworth said she “had reasonable grounds” to believe she was investigating a case of causing animals to be in distress.
‘Time is of the essence’
“Due to the evidence received, I believe that time is of the essence and immediate action is required to relieve the distress of any cats left on the property as well as retrieve the animal carcass from the premise for the means of conducting a necropsy.”
Investigators seized the dead animal during an Aug. 16 search of the supermarket.
No charges have been laid in the case.
“This is still an open investigation,” Sarah Lyon, who speaks for the Nova Scotia SPCA, said Monday in an email.
