Rodent raiser incurs wrath; he's arrested

The owner of a Hayden business where rodents are raised as food for larger predators was arrested Wednesday after more than a year of complaints from neighbors who say the business stinks.

Michael B. West, 30, paid the misdemeanor bond and was released from jail on a misdemeanor public nuisance charge, but Hayden city officials said the matter leading to his arrest has been ongoing for more than a year.

West operates his business, Butterball Rodents, out of a metal-sided warehouse at 11944 Reed Road in a neighborhood on the north end of town, in violation of Hayden’s zoning ordinance that prohibits an animal-based business.

“He has been operating the company against our zoning code,” city administrator Brett Boyer said. “We’ve had numerous complaints about the smell. Nuisance complaints from neighbors.”

The complaints started early last year and the city met with West many times until both parties agreed West would vacate the site in November, Boyer said. But the business, which raises mice, rats, chicks and rabbits, is still there.

“The date has come and gone,” Boyer said.

The last he heard, West was looking for another facility that could accommodate his business, Boyer said.

The city’s code enforcement officer, Connie Kruger, has visited West often and built a code violation case against the business, which was turned over to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, which contracts with Hayden for law enforcement.

“It’s a code violation. We’ve followed it through,” Kruger said.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, West had six pending citations over the smell and was in violation of a cease and desist order when he was arrested while driving a white Hummer in Hayden. His bail was set at $300.