Man who harbored 166 cats won’t face more charges

Gahanna resident faces 11 counts of animal cruelty.

The man who COLUMBUS — harbored 166 cats in his home and faces criminal charges regarding animal cruelty will not face additional charges from the city of Gahanna for violating a law limiting the number of animals at a residence.

Daniel Slyby, 60, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 11 misdemeanor charges filed by Columbus Humane related to cruelty and neglect of animals.

Gahanna law prohibits a household from keeping more than five adult animals. Violators can be charged with a minor misdemeanor for a first offense, up to a $150 fine.

Niel Jurist, a city spokeswoman, said Gahanna does not plan to file additional charges against Slyby “due to the serious nature of the charges currently pending in the Franklin County Municipal Court.”

Jurist said Gahanna’s animal law is in place to protect citizens’ health and safety.

“If there were no guidelines, some of these residences wouldn’t be residences anymore,” Jurist said. “They’d be more like farms.”

Five other Columbus suburbs have laws that set a maximum number of animals per residence: Bexley, Grandview Heights, Hilliard, Upper Arlington and Whitehall.

Bexley passed a law in 2010 that says no residence can keep a total of more than five dogs, cats and chickens, and no more than three of those five can be dogs.

In Upper Arlington, animal-control legislation listed in its “Good Neighbor Guidelines” prohibits a household from having more than four cats or dogs, in any combination.

Grandview Heights and Hilliard residents face similar restrictions: Their ordinances prohibit more than four cats and/or dogs per household.

Whitehall has no rules on how many cats a residence can own, but the limit on dogs is three.

Puppies and kittens are excluded from the maximum number of animals a household can have.

However, the age of what is considered an adult animal varies by city.

Gahanna defines an adult animal as being older than three months. Hilliard, Upper Arlington and Whitehall say four months old. Bexley and Grandview Heights say six months.

Penalties for exceeding the maximum number of animals also vary by city.

In Gahanna, residents can face a minor misdemeanor for the first offense, a fourth-degree misdemeanor for the second and a second-degree misdemeanor for all subsequent offenses.

Bexley, Hilliard, Grandview Heights, Upper Arlington and Whitehall residents can be charged with a fourth-degree misdemeanor, up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine, for breaking the rule. But Anna Subler, a Hilliard spokeswoman, said residents with more than five animals are given time to remedy the issue.

The Columbus city health code doesn’t specify a maximum number of animals per residence, “but it does indicate that (the city reserves) the right to limit the number of animals if the owner, keeper or harborer is cited for unsanitary conditions,” said Kelli Newman Myers, a spokeswoman for Columbus Public Health.

As of Thursday, four of the 111 cats seized from Slyby’s home on Dec. 13 have been euthanized, shelter spokeswoman Kerry Shaw said. The remaining 107 cats are still receiving treatment at Columbus Humane on the Northwest Side, Shaw said, many for “multiple serious infections.”