Omaha woman charged over dozens of dead animals in her home

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha woman has been charged with felony counts after dozens of dead animals were found in her home rendered uninhabitable by filth, waste and rotting animal carcasses.

The Nebraska Humane Society said in a court affidavit that the discovery was made last month in the home of 47-year-old Jaime Kimbrough.

In a seven-page affidavit, a Humane Society officer detailed visits to Kimbrough’s home over several days in August following a complaint about rabbit hording. Various officers described speaking with Kimbrough, whom they described as physically disabled and said she crawled out of the house on her belly and appeared to have feces smeared on her clothing and bare feet. She denied having any rabbits and falsely told officers that her two dogs had been vaccinated, according to the affidavit.

On Aug. 19, a Humane Society team executed a search warrant at the home and found the carcasses of at least 43 dead rabbits — most of them in Kimbrough’s garage — and two bird skeletons in cages in a bedroom. Two dogs and eight rabbits were found alive but suffering from neglect. Two of the rabbits had to be euthanized.

The garage floor was covered in a solid mass of rabbit feces in places more than a foot deep, according to the affidavit. The animal officer said most of the rabbit carcasses were found decaying inside rabbit food bags. The officer said investigators found 38 rabbit carcasses dumped from some feed bags in the garage. Officers found another six feed bags with more rabbit carcasses, “but there were too many to count,” the officer wrote.

When asked about the dead animals, Kimbrough insisted she “had been set up” and that other people had placed the animals in her home, the officer said.

“She also told me that she chose to snap the necks of the rabbits when she couldn’t care for them anymore,” the officer wrote.

Kimbrough was charged earlier this month with two counts of felony animal neglect resulting in death, and an arrest warrant was issued last week. She has pleaded not guilty and has been released from jail.

Kimbrough’s attorney, Kaz Long, questioned why the situation was being handled as a criminal rather than civil matter.

“My client was doing her best with her limited ability,” Long said. “This is a woman who needs help.”