A Mandeville area man whose dogs allegedly burrowed underneath his neighbors fence and “viciously attacked their sleeping cat” has sued parish animal officials for first selling him the animals then confiscating them after the attack.

The suit, filed April 29 but only recently made available to the public, alleges the St. Tammany Parish Animal Shelter had no grounds for confiscating the two puppies, a bulldog mix named Rufus and an Australian Shepherd mix named Max.

Dr. Chevies Newman, a medical doctor, bought the dogs from the St. Tammany Parish Animal Shelter on or about Feb. 25, 2005, according to the suit. The shelter’s internal rules prohibit the selling of dogs deemed dangerous. But more than two years later on Sept. 18, 2007, the dogs “purportedly” wandered into the Beau Chene Subdivision near Mandeville and mauled to death Gilis and Mitzi Melancons’ cat, according to the suit.

A day later the dogs were confiscated by St. Tammany Parish animal services without reason, according to the suit.

“Animal services failed to gather even the barest evidence to prove that the dogs in fact killed the Melancons’ cat or, alternatively, that the dogs are dangerous animals as defined by the ordinances,” Newman’s lawyers Stephen Conroy, Tom Snyder Jr. and Rebecca Fenton wrote in suit.

The suit alleges Julie Hill, a professional dog trainer and consultant, evaluated the dogs’ temperament and found they “do not pose threat to humans.”

She also wrote in the report, “I also do not believe these dogs post a threat to other domestic animals.”

Newman’s attorneys from Metairie-based Conroy Law Firm also allege that parish animal services did not prove the Melancons’ owned the cat, nor did officials prove how the dogs burrowed underneath the 6-foot fence to attack the cat.

Newman is seeking damages and lawyer fees.

The dogs remained impounded.