Posted on 12/12/2012 6:06:50 PM PST by WXRGina
A Biloxi Community Court judge has sentenced a 78-year-old woman to 100 hours of community service for the hoarding of cats in a case believed to be unprecedented.
Dawn Summers, a 50-year resident of the Glendale Heights subdivision, thought she was already performing a community service.
She's the manager of a feral cat colony. In cooperation with a city-sanctioned program of the Humane Society of South Mississippi, she feeds cats that have been trapped, examined, spayed or neutered, vaccinated and released to live outdoors without fear of euthanasia.
She said she's fed as many as 27.
Her sentencing drew criticism from HSSM officials and animal lovers who attended a hearing Tuesday to show their support.
"This is already drawing national attention," said Tara High, HSSM executive director.
Contacts with Maryland-based feral cat organization Alley Cat Allies have said it is rare for a feral colony manager to be prosecuted for hoarding, High said.
Judge Pro Tem Dean Wilson sentenced Summers on Tuesday after an attorney met with him behind closed doors to discuss an agreement city officials signed in 2009. The agreement exempts residents from prosecution under the city's leash law if they are caring for feral cats released back into the community through the HSSM's Trap, Neuter, Return program.
The agreement -- a memorandum of understanding -- was attached to a resolution signed by Mayor A.J. Holloway.
But there's a hitch: a city ordinance that limits the number of domestic animals a resident can have wasn't changed when the resolution was signed. That means Summers only can feed up to six cats older than six months or she's breaking the law.
(Excerpt) Read more at sunherald.com ...
It sounds like the judge convicted her of something she wasn’t even charged with.
lol
He did.
I like your .gif file! :-)
Feral Viking Kitty PING!
People don't feed alligators here in Florida, nor do intelligent people in Michigan suburbs feed bears.
It tends to upset the natural balance of nature.
Oddly enough, there are laws forbidding exactly those activities, in both states.
Feral cats and non-native snakes in Florida are killing off migrating birds from the northern states.
Non-native plants, insects and animals introduced into Florida are killing many natural species, that would normally controll native insects, predator and prey animals, primarily our native lizards.
Your friend probably deserved an even higher fine that what he paid.
I love my pet cat!
I keep her inside my house.
Adult eagles, crows and vultures would consider her a tasty exotic treat, just as she would merrily chomp on the eggs of the same birds, if given the opportunity.
Thanks. I always loved that one. :) I can’t imagine how that place must have smelled.
Obama needs to step in and advise the judge to exercise “selective prosecution” like he has for those who want to deport illegal aliens. And these are AMERICAN CATS!!! ;o)
Did you ask the “Biologist” if he was also fond of rats and mice?
I'll remember to tell my two tomorrow morning as I awake with them both snuggled close to me in bed. Also, when they rub against my legs and greet me with a purr and chirp. When they wait patiently while I get their water and food, I'll be sure to tell them, "Cats aren't really domesticated animals." Especially, when the one lays on the table between the keyboard and my chest and gently kneads me while purring loudly with a contented smile on his closed eyed face. Yeah, I'm sure they'll agree - though I know they won't mean it. :o)
Dogs r’dogs and cats r’cats. I love ‘em both.
I had to keep my cats away from the computer while I read the news story. They try to read everything and would have been very upset by what the judge did.
Ha Ha Ha! Darn Spell-check. “Sex” is indeed spelled correctly!
Mr. Bumble upon being told that the law assumes that his wife acts under his direction.
Mr. Bumble replies “If the law supposes that ... the law is a ass—a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is that his eye may be opened by experience—by experience.”
Stray-Cat Feeders TRAIN Feral Cats To Attack Humans
These cat-lovers always like to claim that feral cats run away from humans, and therefore aren’t the cause of all the thousands of new rabies cases.
Google for: feral cat attack rabies
Don’t be surprised at the numbers of search-hits you get, nor the thousands of horrendous stories that go with them. The numbers of rabies cases or required rabies shots caused by feral cats have been exponentially growing as fast as the cats breed.
These cat-feeders are TRAINING these disease-infested cats to approach humans for food. And what happens when that child (or foolish adult) doesn’t have food and reaches down to “pet the cute kitty” or pick it up to try to take it home? The cat lashes out and bites or scratches the hand that has no food for them. That means MANDATORY $1000+ painful rabies shots for the child (or any adult that is just as ignorant and naive). Paid for out of their OWN pockets — because NOT ONE of these cat-feeders carries one penny of liability insurance for the DEADLY danger they bring to their communities.
These are just the diseases they’ve been spreading to humans, not counting the ones they spread to all wildlife. THERE ARE NO VACCINES against many of these, and are in-fact listed as bio-terrorism agents. They include: Campylobacter Infection, Cat Scratch Disease, Coxiella burnetti Infection (Q fever), Cryptosporidium Infection, Dipylidium Infection (tapeworm), Hookworm Infection, Leptospira Infection, Giardia, Plague, Rabies, Ringworm, Salmonella Infection, Toxocara Infection, Toxoplasma. [Centers for Disease Control, July 2010] Sarcosporidiosis, Flea-borne Typhus, Tularemia, and Rat-Bite Fever can now also be added to that list.
The ONLY difference between rats and cats these days is that people who own and love pet-rats aren’t severely mentally unbalanced and trying to hoard feral-rat populations on other people’s public and private properties — while also relentlessly petitioning all their lawmakers to do so.
Pet-rat owners, and all other types of pet owners, at least have THEIR sh** together.
If only the same were true of all these mentally-ill TNR cRat-hoarders.
(I still think it’s their cats’ Toxoplasma gondii parasites in the cat-lovers’ brains that make them so unfalteringly blind to their own stupidity, hypocrisy, and absolute absurdity.)
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