Timothy Erin Olofson
On July 31, police seized 102 animals - including dogs and cats - from a Greeley home.
They were acting on a tip. But a similar tip had come in on July 7 and police say the animal control officer who handled that call basically ignored the complaint.
Greeley police started an internal investigation following the seizure.
This week, Sgt. Joe Tymkowych, spokesperson for Greeley police, said the animal control officer was terminated.
Saying it's a personnel matter, Tymkowych did not release the officer's name..." More
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Dallas Staley, a real estate agent in Fort Collins, was trying to sell the house in question.
Early last month, she says her son went inside and discovered the deplorable conditions.
"The poop and everything was caked all over the carpets," Staley said.
Staley called Greeley police, but she says the officer came up with every reason not to take action.
"It didn't matter," she said. "He wasn't going to do anything."
Three weeks later, an appraiser saw the same conditions at the same house and did the same thing Staley did: He called police.
But this time, they acted.
They removed 52 cats, two rabbits, eight rats and two guinea pigs. They also found 28 dead cats in a freezer in the home.
Staley now questions what happened to both her tip and the animals.
"I wonder how many died in between there ... How many suffered between there, that's my concern," she said.
Greeley police acknowledge something might have gone wrong.
"We had the initial call on the 7th and it was apparently not followed up on as we would have preferred, given what's been said and we're still investigating that," Sgt. Joe Tymkowych said..." More & Video
