Dozens of pets rescued from burning home
Updated: February 10, 2012, 12:03
MOUNT HEALTHY OH - Nikki Hagaman is an easy touch. Have a bearded dragon you can’t take care of? She’ll take it off your hands. Didn’t think a cute Easter bunny would be so much work? Hagaman has a home for it.
“I can’t say no,” Hagaman said Thursday as she stood outside of her burned-out house in the 1800 block of Adams Road.
She, her fiance, brother and 77 pets – “there’s at least that many,” she said – now have to find a new home.
At about 10:30 Thursday morning, Hagaman was a few blocks away volunteering at the Animal House Pet Store when she saw fire engines roar by.
“She said, ‘They’re headed in my house’s direction.’ She dropped everything, left her purse and coat,” said Mike Raleigh, one of the pet store owners.
Hagaman raced down the street, saw the firetrucks in front of her house and, she admitted, “I panicked.”
Two police officers “tackled me” trying to stop her from getting to the house. Because she kicked one of them, she was charged and now has to answer to that in court.
“I was hysterical,” she said. She saw six of her terrified dogs sprint out of the house when the front door opened. She went to the basement and rescued a German shepherd.
All of the rescued animals – an iguana didn’t make it – were taken away, many to the Animal House Pet Store, to be adopted or housed until adoption plans could be made.
Now, Hagaman’s fear is she will be thought of as a freakish animal hoarder. She insists all of her animals are healthy, well cared for, get regular veterinary visits and have their cages cleaned twice weekly.
“It is hard to understand why I have so many,” she admitted. “I take great care of all these” pets.
Kathy Raleigh, also an owner of the Animal House Pet Store, met Hagaman when she was a teen and came to the store for ferret food.
“It’s just sad because she means well,” Raleigh said. “They’re all well-fed and healthy. The problem with Nikki is she can’t say no.”
As Raleigh spoke, Lily, the beagle-mix rescued from Hagaman’s house whimpered in her cage, shaking with fear after the ordeal.
As a volunteer at the store, which gets about 10 calls a day from people trying to get rid of pets, Hagaman couldn’t stand to see pets treated badly or abandoned. Even though it was expensive and crowded her house, she took in many pets. “I’m broke and I don’t have a life,” she joked.
Having that many pets isn’t a violation of Mount Healthy laws “as long as they don’t become a nuisance,” Fire Chief Steve Lawson said.
And it’s not a sign of being mentally unstable.
“It’s not unheard of,” SPCA director Harold Dates said. “If the person has the time and the wherewithal to care for them properly ... and the animals are in reasonable condition, people do that.”
The fire started, Hagaman believes, because she used a heat light used to keep reptiles warm, in place of a non-working bathroom light. She fears it got too close to a towel.
She had no homeowners insurance.
To be considered to adopt Hagaman’s pets, call the Animal House Pet Store, 931-6139.
Mt. Healthy Fire Chief Steve Lawson says the pets included:
• 12 Rabbits
• 2 Guinea pigs
• 1 Hedgehog
• 7 Finches
• 2 Cockatiels
• 5 Hamsters
• 10 Mice
• 18 Rats
• 9 Cats
• 1 Chinchilla
• 2 Iguanas
• 1 Bearded Dragon
Story and Photo: Cara Owsley cincinnatti.com
