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Biloxi [MS] woman's sentence in feral cats case draws national attention
Sun Herald ^ | December 12, 2012 | Robin Fitzgerald

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 ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: kittyping
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Bizarre story...
1 posted on 12/12/2012 6:06:57 PM PST by WXRGina
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To: WXRGina

Wow...Biloxi must be a totally crime free city to have so much time to prosecute someone for feeding feral cats....under permission from the city

Why judges and prosecutors should lose immunity protection


2 posted on 12/12/2012 6:11:51 PM PST by SeminoleCounty (Seems that the ones who understand little about the economy are economists)
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To: WXRGina

I dont know who said it first, but The law is an ass..........


3 posted on 12/12/2012 6:11:56 PM PST by Red Badger (Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama just got them ALL back......................)
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To: WXRGina

4 posted on 12/12/2012 6:12:26 PM PST by RingerSIX (My wife and I took an AIDS vaccine that they offer down at our Church.)
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To: WXRGina
Third from the right...


5 posted on 12/12/2012 6:17:00 PM PST by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: WXRGina

A friend of mine, a WW2 veteran, and one of the pilots in the Berlin Airlift, who home-cares his elderly bedridden wife, was FINED for feeding sex feral cats who sought shelter in his carport.

I kid you not.


6 posted on 12/12/2012 6:18:26 PM PST by left that other site (Worry is the Darkroom that Develops Negatives.)
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To: Joe 6-pack

That’s funny!


7 posted on 12/12/2012 6:18:54 PM PST by WXRGina (Further up and further in!)
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To: WXRGina

Around 30 years ago I was talking to a Mississippi State Wildlife Biologist. I disagreed with him on one thing. He thought we should not kill rattlesnakes.

On the other hand he said he killed every feral cat he saw in the woods. He said they were one of the most harmful things there is. I agree and I like cats.


8 posted on 12/12/2012 6:22:35 PM PST by yarddog (One shot one miss.)
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To: WXRGina
Jackass bureaucratic incompetence in the legal industry.
9 posted on 12/12/2012 6:24:21 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: WXRGina

I’m more concerned about feral democrats.


10 posted on 12/12/2012 6:24:50 PM PST by CMailBag
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To: yarddog

I live in north Texas. Every feral cat out there is one less house pet the owles and coyotes eat.

Can’t see them ever becoming a problem here. They are not that high on the food chain.


11 posted on 12/12/2012 6:34:16 PM PST by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: SeminoleCounty
Cats aren't really domesticated animals. Rather, they tolerate us, and we tolerate them ~ it's very akin to the parallel evolution of dogs and men that make it possible for us to live in the same space.

Given the short lifespan of feral cats she probably has a peak of 26 cats, and a minimum of 2 on a pretty regular basis. i'd suggest her's is a crime not worth worrying about.

12 posted on 12/12/2012 6:35:24 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: WXRGina

I was fine $100 for feeding, fixing and vaccinating the cats that came into my house. I left that small ignorant community.


13 posted on 12/12/2012 6:41:11 PM PST by eccentric (a.k.a. baldwidow)
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To: left that other site

A friend of mine, a WW2 veteran, and one of the pilots in the Berlin Airlift, who home-cares his elderly bedridden wife, was FINED for feeding sex feral cats who sought shelter in his carport.

I kid you not.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Were they Freudian?


14 posted on 12/12/2012 6:50:07 PM PST by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: MrEdd

I lived in Western Kansas for 5 years. I spent a lot of time outdoors but don’t recall ever seeing a cat of any kind. I guess the prairies are just not cat territory.

Here in the NW Florida woods, the cats do pretty much what they want. We have coyotes but I don’t think the cats have much to fear from them, at least if there is a tree nearby.


15 posted on 12/12/2012 6:51:14 PM PST by yarddog (One shot one miss.)
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To: CMailBag
I’m more concerned about feral democrats.

Yep. I'm with you.

16 posted on 12/12/2012 7:04:47 PM PST by WXRGina (Further up and further in!)
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To: WXRGina; duffee; onyx; DrewsMum; Tupelo; mstar; jdirt; Vietnam Vet From New Mexico; wardaddy; ...

Mississippi ping


17 posted on 12/12/2012 7:09:46 PM PST by WKB ( Remember "Bush Lied and People Died" Now it's "People died and Obama Lied")
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To: WXRGina
Yes, it is bizzare.

Maryland has several months of hard freeze during the winter months.Feral cat populations will be semi-controlled by nature.
Mississippi does not have the same weather cycles as Maryland.

What works in Maryland does not work at all in Mississippi.

18 posted on 12/12/2012 7:10:56 PM PST by sarasmom ( .)
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To: WKB

I like your tagline. Spot-on.


19 posted on 12/12/2012 7:26:40 PM PST by WXRGina (Further up and further in!)
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To: sarasmom
Maryland has several months of hard freeze during the winter months.Feral cat populations will be semi-controlled by nature.

When I was a teenager in NY state, I went to an auto junk yard looking for some parts and I remember 3 different cars in there that had long since dead cats impaled with engine fans and crushed in the fan belts. Cats would fall asleep on the warm engine blocks and the owner would start the engine later.

20 posted on 12/12/2012 7:30:45 PM PST by BerryDingle (I know how to deal with communists, I still wear their scars on my back from Hollywood-Ronald Reagan)
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