When The Gov. Takes Away Your Family

[font=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][size=+1]Bush dweller fights to reclaim his 22 cats after seizure[/size][/font]
[font=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][size=-1]Officials are weighing the possibility of animal cruelty charges.[/size][/font]

[font=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][size=-1]By CASEY GROVE

(01/26/12 14:00:30) [/size][/font]
[font=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][size=-1]It was still summer when Jim Hershberger packed up his 22 cats at his homestead in the Mentasta Mountains, hauled them down a mountain on a sled and loaded them into a raft. After a short river trip, he drove 250 miles to Anchorage, where he moved into a friend's shipping container.[/size][/font]

[font=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][size=-1]Hershberger's plan: get supplies, visit the veterans' clinic here and find a woman. He is no ordinary man, his cats are not ordinary cats, and so far, he hasn't found that extraordinary woman who wants the whole package.[/size][/font]

[font=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][size=-1]Instead, the city broke his heart.[/size][/font]

[font=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][size=-1]Hershberger is fighting for his felines -- talking to reporters, seeking legal help, painting "Free my cats now" on his vehicle -- after they were seized Jan. 14 in what the city says is an ongoing animal cruelty investigation. A police officer found the cats in crates inside Hershberger's gray Toyota hatchback, parked outside the Conex where Hershberger and his dog Sheba were staying. It ranged between 5 degrees below zero and 5 above in the vehicle, police said.[/size][/font]

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