PELICAN BAY, Texas, July 10 (UPI) -- Police in a Texas town say the animal control officer may have been selling pets she seized from their owners.
Delores Knight was arrested after a raid on her house in Pelican Bay, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Officers said they found more than 40 dogs and cats living in squalid conditions and veterinary medicines belonging to the city, including drugs used to put pets to sleep.
Opinion in the small town northwest of Fort Worth is divided. Neighbors say that Knight took in strays, including many dumped in the neighborhood, and cared for them as best she could.
But some pet owners say that she allegedly seized their beloved animals, often for minor infractions of licensing laws, and then sold them without keeping them in the animal shelter.
An investigation began when a woman complained to police that Knight had sold her cocker spaniel the day after the animal was seized.
Police Chief Eddie Frankum says officials have learned Knight was fired from a job at an animal shelter before Pelican Bay hired her.
He said that investigators who have gone through her records have found that she listed 100 pets seized since November with only two adopted.
