Children who stayed at a Lawrence day care are in danger of parasites from a filthy menagerie of cats, dogs and birds that soiled the home, state officials said.

State health officials earlier this month shut down the business. Since then, one father who used the day care said his infant son had ringworm.

A day care operator living at this house at 1304 Winston Drive had her license revoked earlier this month after state health officials said children were exposed to health hazards caused by animals in the home.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Aug. 2 issued an emergency suspension of Laurie A. Zaman’s child-care provider license. Zaman operated a small day care, with fewer than 10 children, since April in a home she rented in the 3100 block of Winston Drive.

The suspension order said children at the home were exposed to a number of health hazards caused by animals there. The order, signed by KDHE Secretary Clyde Graeber, said the home had a strong urine odor and animal feces on the floor.

Parents who used the day care were angry at the news. One father, who asked not to be identified, said his 5-month-old son tested positive for ringworm after staying at the home.

“I don’t think she should ever get her license back,” said Kim Johnson, a single mother whose 5-year-old had been enrolled in the day care but never stayed at Zaman’s house. “If the license has been pulled, it should be pulled for life. She should never get it back again, and she should be barred from day care and foster care.”

Appeal filed

Zaman, who moved out of the home Thursday, said she already had filed an appeal of the order. She said it couldn’t be proven that any child contracted ringworm at her business. And she said she wanted to open another child-care service this time without pets on the premises.

“The kids were not in contact with any of the pets,” she said.

Investigators with the Lawrence Humane Society first went to the house in the Deerfield Woods II neighborhood two weeks ago after receiving anonymous calls. They made two trips the second time discovering 15 Persian cats living in dirty cages in the garage.

“We found they had numerous animals in the garage that were desperately in need of help,” said Midge Grinstead, Lawrence Humane Society director. “We took them under the Kansas cruelty statute, and we are pursuing cruelty and neglect charges against the owners.”

Grinstead said animal control officers also seized between 20 and 30 birds and two dogs from the home, but she said the cats were in the worst shape.

Four veterinarians have been working with the Humane Society, treating the animals for the infections and parasites. Grinstead said one of the cats had to be euthanized because of a spinal injury.

“It is our goal not to give the animals back,” she said.

Parasite warning

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department sent a letter Aug. 2 to parents who used the day care, warning them their children had been exposed to ringworm and roundworms.

Ringworms have an unknown incubation period, while roundworms incubate over a two- to four-week period.

The letter suggested parents have their children checked by their own physicians.

“You’re disgusted; at one moment you literally want to throw up,” Johnson said. “At another moment you want to cry because your child is your possession.”

Johnson said she chose Zaman as a day-care provider based on a recommendation from a neighbor, but she went another step, checking lists of licensed agencies. She also visited the house where she was planning to send her son. She didn’t see any animals, except for two hamsters in a small cage.

“I was shocked and disgusted and irritated,” she said when she found out Zaman’s license had been suspended. “I’m a parent and I was going to put my child in this extremely unhealthy environment, not knowing it was unhealthy.”