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Posted on 07/17/2003 5:17:35 PM PDT by jjbrouwer
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City transit police prowling the subway for scofflaws jailed a month-old kitten this week.
"Gizmo," a black and white kitten, and its owner, Angel Melendez, were placed in a city lockup early on Tuesday after an officer cited the 35-year-old subway musician for having an uncaged animal inside the subway system.
The incident was the latest example of what critics say is a ticketing blitz designed to help the cash-strapped city. Recently, officials fined a man for sitting on a milk crate and ticketed a woman for talking loudly to her neighbour.
Officials deny increased ticketing and statistics show the number of summonses has not risen.
Melendez was playing plastic drums in Manhattan's 14th Street station when police issued him a summons for having the kitten on a bucket next to him, lawyer David Kapner said. The kitten was sound asleep.
According to the criminal complaint, the arresting officer wrote he "observed the defendant in close proximity to a cat, which was on top of an upside down bucket, not enclosed in a container ... the defendant knew he was not allowed to possess a cat not enclosed in a container inside a subway facility."
Melendez and Gizmo spent 40 hours in separate city lockups before a loving reunion on Wednesday afternoon.
"She's like my baby. I didn't want to leave her alone at home," Melendez said.
A Manhattan criminal court judge on Wednesday sentenced Melendez to time served.
Increased ticketing and taxes? God forbid New York actually cut some of the socialist spending programs in order to balance the budget.
Raise taxes and make it harder to do business- that's a surefire strategy to encourage even more job losses in NYC.
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