Last month members of the North Metro Drug Task Force found an active meth lab when they stormed a home in a quiet Robbinsdale neighborhood.
An adult resident and his 15-year-old son were arrested. It was the first meth lab busted in Hennepin County this year, a fact that suggests small time manufacturers are disappearing from the landscape. "I would still say that we have a meth problem, and it's probably pretty severe in terms of people using it and selling it," said Captain Steve Smith of the Robbinsdale Police Department. But from a law enforcement standpoint, the statistics don't bear out the problem in terms of the meth labs being in the community."
During that bust, officers with the Robbinsdale Police Department noticed catnip inside the home, but they couldn't find a cat. A few days later, a neighbor reported that the cat was inside the chemical infested house.
So, on April 10, the police officers went back to the house and set a tuna trap and caught the cat and took it to the Golden Valley Animal Humane Society.
Keith Streff is the director of investigations at the Humane Society and he says this scenario is becoming more and more common as police raid and condem houses used in the drug trade.
Groomers are cleaning the cat and examining it for chemical burns it might have suffered from the myriad of toxic chemicals used to manufacture meth. After it has been quarantined, it will be given to a family member or possibly given up for adoption.
