Kangaroos Can Rejoin Couple--Out of County

An unusual custody fight over a collection of kangaroos has ended in a compromise between Los Angeles County officials and an Agoura couple.

Eighteen kangaroos confiscated seven months ago by authorities probing reports of unsanitary conditions will be returned to ranchers Murray and Violet Marcus--provided they are permanently removed from the county.

County health and animal-control officials said they seized the animals March 6 after discovering that Marcus, his 68-year-old wife and the kangaroos were living in a rat-infested house on two acres in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The agreement for the animals’ return was reached Wednesday as Murray Marcus, 70, pleaded no contest in Malibu Municipal Court to a single violation of the county health code.

Marcus had denied abusing the animals and demanded a jury trial when authorities accused him of five health-code violations.

The looming showdown became known as the “Kangaroo Court Case” in Agoura, where Marcus was elected honorary sheriff in 1984 for “Pony Express Days.”

Violet Marcus frequently described the collie-sized kangaroos as “my babies.” Friends of the couple said they were prepared to testify that the Marcuses were eccentric animal lovers, guilty only of being unconventional “pack rats.”

But county animal-control officers called the Marcuses’ premises the “worst living place for animals” they had ever seen.

Besides being overrun by rats, the expensive home the Marcuses shared with their animals was filled with trash, rotting food and animal feces, said Lt. Martin Broad, a supervisor at the Los Angeles County Animal Care Center in Agoura Hills.

As part of Wednesday’s agreement, four of the counts were dismissed after Marcus agreed to have the home cleaned to health officials’ specifications within two weeks, officials said.

Prosecutor Tim D. Hansen, a deputy district attorney, said the kangaroos will not be returned until the cleanup is completed and a new kangaroo ranch site is acquired outside the county.

A sentencing hearing for Marcus is scheduled for Nov. 5 before Court Commissioner Richard Brand.

The Marcuses’ attorney, Jenny Scovis, said the couple are considering several locations for their new kangaroo ranch, including one near Ojai in Ventura County.