Blaine landlord poisoned cats, ‘did not want them on property’: Charges

KANABEC COUNTY, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Blaine man faces several charges related to the mistreatment of animals after authorities received a report from someone who believed he had been poisoning cats that lived outdoors by their building.

Cruelty charges

Kevin Michael Halverson, 57, of Blaine, is charged with cruelty to animals by poisoning, animal torture, and animal cruelty for allegedly poisoning the cats of his tenants.

According to the charges, on July 20, 2024, the Kanabec County Sheriff's Office received a call from someone saying that they believed their landlord was poisoning cats that lived around the building where he lived.

The caller claimed they had been working with the Veteran’s Administration (VA) in attempts to re-home the cats, and that he regularly fed them, but started to notice a rapid decline in their health and believed they were being poisoned. He told authorities that he had previously taken some of the cats to a shelter and that others were already scheduled to be spayed and neutered, according to charges.

Law enforcement says the caller explained he previously spoke with his landlord, identified as Halverson, about the cats, but that Halverson was not happy he had been feeding them.

The caller claimed that he had witnessed Halverson put anti-freeze in a trailer that the cats would crawl into, and confronted him about it, during which time Halverson told him he "did not want the cats on the property."

Halverson is not currently in custody after police attempted, but failed, to reach him.