"Cat person" leaves $160,000 to animal shelter

Metro Animal Care and Control is set to get a windfall from an unusual source: a man who died last year — and really liked cats.

James Bomar Talbot, who died in June 2013 at the age of 83, left 11 percent of his estate, amounting to approximately $160,500, to the city agency. The money would give Animal Care and Control, which is part of the Metro Public Health Department, a nearly 8 percent increase above its $2,019,600 budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The Metro Council voted to accept the unrestricted donation Tuesday. Councilman Ronnie Steine called the gift "extraordinary."

"It's a very generous bequest," Steine said. "This has got to be a great asset to their work."

It's also a great surprise to the city. Health Department spokesman Brian Todd said the animal control agency had "no known connection" to Talbot.

6 August 2014
USA

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