FAIRFIELD — Animal lover Barb Wollebeck has taken in dozens of stray, sick and injured animals — and spent thousands of dollars customizing her home for their comfort and safety. But a little-known Fairfield zoning ordinance says she owns too many pets.

        So she faces possible fines and court action unless she gets rid of all but two of them — an order issued although officials found the animals well-cared-for and her neighbors undisturbed by noise or odor.

        “I think the whole thing's so stupid,” said neighbor Carisa Witt, 36. “She's absolutely wonderful with those dogs — and you can't even tell from her house that she has them . . . I think she is to be commended for it, not punished.”

        Fairfield officials say they're simply enforcing a law that has been on the books for years.

        That law prohibits ownership of more than two dogs or cats in a residential area without a kennel license. Ms. Wollebeck, faced with a 30-day deadline, is struggling to find homes for the animals.

        “It doesn't make any sense for me to take them out of here when they're not hurting anybody, and I refuse to have any of them (euthanized). I'll be damned if I'm going to do that,” she said. “They already had a home where someone was taking good care of them.”

        Butler County auditor records show 30 Fairfield residents with more than two dog licenses, exceeding the city's two-pet limit — and Ms. Wollebeck's supporters think the law is being selectively enforced.

        Ms. Wollebeck, 50, left her job at a book-binding company two years ago on physical disability.

        “I've been pretty sick

        and the animals helped me through it,” she said. “I give them a lot of love and they give it back.”

        She concedes she may have adopted too many pets, but her compassion left her with little choice.

        “I took them in when they were abused and hurt and abandoned — and people brought them to me because they knew I'd take good care of them,” she said. “Then after I get them, they wrap their little hearts around me and I just can't get rid of them.”

        For nearly every animal, there's a story.

        Max, a fluffy black-and-white cat, was rescued from a Dumpster. Jack, a white boxer, had been beaten badly and required $600 in veterinary care. Lucky, a full-grown yellow cat, had been abandoned at 2 weeks old.

        Ms. Wollebeck said she already had most of her animals “fixed” so they can't reproduce. But she needed help paying for the remaining 13 animals to be spayed or neutered, so she went to the Humane Association of Butler County in Trenton.

        Ms. Wollebeck's request raised suspicions because it involved so many pets and because she has 27 dog licenses under her name. Humane officials wondered whether she was neglecting or mistreating the animals, so they reported Ms. Wollebeck to Fairfield authorities.

        Fairfield's animal control officer, Chuck Geurin, said he and Zoning Inspector Janette Matala went unannounced to Ms. Wollebeck's Bartel Drive home. Mr. Geurin said the conditions were surprisingly clean, and her nearly 50 pets appeared happy and healthy.

        Ms. Matala, who cited Ms. Wollebeck for the zoning violation in an Oct. 17 certified letter, was unavailable for comment. But Planning Director Tim Bachman, who estimated the ordinance had been in effect at least 15 years, said Ms. Wollebeck could go to the Board of Zoning Appeals and ask for a variance — an exception to the rule.

        He also said she could ask a city council member to sponsor a zoning code change.

        Ms. Wollebeck and her roommate, Vickie Andrew, said no one had previously told them about those options — and they weren't sure what to do.

        Glenna Carroll, shelter manager at the privately funded Humane Association, said that, to her knowledge, Fairfield is the county's only city with such an ordinance. Agreeing that the limit seems low, Ms. Carroll, who lives in Hamilton, said, “I've got two dogs and two cats myself.”

        Most of Ms. Wollebeck's pets stay in a garage-turned-kennel. Cages sit on new linoleum flooring; new duct work provides heat and air-conditioning. The kennel's door leads to a screened-in porch and a big back yard with a wood privacy fence and deck.

        The improvements cost $10,000, said Ms. Wollebeck, who typically spends another $400 a month on pet food and kitty litter.

        Ms. Wollebeck says she rotates groups of a half-dozen out of the kennel to ensure that they get individual attention, adding, "I don't think any of them spend more than eight or nine hours a day in their cages."

        Trying to find homes for her pets has been time-consuming and emotionally draining, Ms. Wollebeck said.

        “It's like asking someone: Which one of your children would you like to get rid of?” she said, as Jack, the white boxer, licked away tears from her cheeks.

        Ms. Carroll, the Humane Association shelter manager, says she now regrets having reported Ms. Wollebeck.

        “If she's taking good care of them, Fairfield ought to make an exception,” said Ms. Carroll. “In this case, maybe she needs to fight City Hall.”

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