Stray cats poisoned by property’s landlord die in tenant’s arms, Minnesota cops say

A Minnesota landlord is accused of poisoning stray cats because he did not want them on his property, authorities said.

The case was brought to the attention of Kanabec County deputies July 20 when a tenant called the department, saying he feared his landlord was poisoning cats that roamed around their building, according to a statement of probable cause filed Aug. 9.

The tenant said he would often feed the cats, but he recently noticed “a rapid decline in their health,” the court documents state.

The landlord, 57-year-old Kevin Michael Halverson, was not happy with the tenant caring for the cats, according to the court records.

Halverson asked the property manager “to help him poison the cats,” but the manager refused, the sheriff’s office said. Court documents said the landlord allegedly wanted the manager to kill the cats by putting anti-freeze in tuna cans.

The property manager, who was interviewed by deputies, observed Halverson putting anti-freeze in a trailer the cats were known to crawl inside, according to the probable cause statement.

“Halverson responded (to the property manager) by saying he did not want the cats on the property,” the sheriff’s office said, citing the manager’s testimony.

After the landlord bought the anti-freeze, the tenant and property manager both noticed the cats’ health decline, authorities said. Some of the cats, the court records state, died in the tenant’s arms.

“(The property manager) stated that the cats were getting really skinny and sick and he even found a cat in the shelter he built dead and contorted,” the sheriff’s office said.

Halverson was charged with cruelty to animals-poisoning, mistreatment of animals-torture and mistreatment of animals-cruelty, records state.

Kanabec County is about a 75-mile drive north from Minneapolis.

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