Nancy Segula is 79 years previous and lives in Garfield Heights, Ohio. She has a giant coronary heart, particularly relating to cats. And he or she’s been sentenced to 10 days in county jail for feeding them…strays to be extra particular.
Segula has been feeding strays since her neighbor moved away, abandoning his cats. Segula says of that point, “I used to have a neighbor that had a few cats, and he moved away, so he left them. I’d all the time feed them and take care of them as a result of I used to be nervous about them, and I’m a cat lover.”
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Effectively, phrase acquired spherical to the strays on the town and apparently her inhabitants of porch kitties grew. Neighbors started complaining of dangerous smells, feces, and even a deceased cat discovered close to the property. Since 2017, Segula has acquired 4 citations in violation of metropolis ordinances that forbid feeding stray animals.
In a listening to in Might, a 10-day jail sentence was suspended in trade for a promise from Nancy to not feed the strays anymore. She was, successfully, placed on probation. Her coronary heart wouldn’t let her do it.
“Despite the fact that I used to be on probation and I knew that I used to be not supposed to do that, I couldn’t assist myself as a result of each time these cats would see me they’d come working up by the door, and I simply felt dangerous, and I needed to give them one thing to eat,” Segula mentioned.
When the violation of her probation was confirmed, Nancy needed to seem earlier than a Justice of the Peace who issued a ten day jail sentence. She was set to report for her sentence however after all of the information protection, Decide Jennifer Weiler scheduled a brand new listening to for August 6 to assessment the case earlier than Segula was set to report back to jail. An area rescue group has stepped within the hopes of serving to each Nancy and the strays at her property.
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Animal advocates from Ceaselessly Pals and the Garfield Heights Animal Warden visited the property to take away stray cats and kittens.
“We’re making an effort to assist her, to alleviate the issue, to take away the difficulty,” mentioned Debra Bartowick with Ceaselessly Pals, including she hopes it could spare Nancy any time behind bars.
The rescue group plans to judge all of the cats and kittens and get them positioned. They might go to native barns or shelters for adoption however they won’t stay on the road. Why the county didn’t leverage public assets to take away the cats sooner is unknown.
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Though it’s true that Nancy acquired a number of warning and citations, it simply appears unsuitable to ship an aged girl to jail for listening to her coronary heart and serving to animals in want. Hopefully, the rescue group and native Animal Warden can sway the choose on this case to return to her senses and work out an answer that satisfies the wants of all events concerned, together with the felines.
What are your ideas? Ought to feeding strays be a punishable offense? Who is de facto within the unsuitable right here, the county for his or her dealing with of it or Nancy for her repeated care taking?
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Author
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Adam Johanson is an animal lover and a blogger at Panelpets. He writes regularly regarding pets and how to take care of them, as well as general news stories about animals. When he isn't writing, Adam can usually be found playing with his two dogs or cuddling his cat.