Ohio woman, 79, sentenced to prison for feeding stray cats

FNC ^ | 7/30/2019 | Staff

[Boomer]

A 79-year-old self-described "cat lover" has been given a dose of paw and order by local authorities, who sentenced her to spend more than a week behind bars for continually doling out munchies to the neighborhood mousers.

In Garfield Heights, Ohio, it's considered a minor misdemeanor to offer food to stray cats and dogs, according to Cleveland.com. Nancy Segula, a resident of the city who has received multiple citations for feeding stray felines, was ordered by a judge last week to spend 10 days in jail, Fox 8 reports.

[LongWayHome]

It’s an obsession for some. We see & hear about this situation a lot. I never thought much about it until I watched this woman basically go over the edge.

[Flick Lives]

Pigeons make wonderful table fare for the budgeting urban dweller.

- -

Native free-range squab with wild rice . . . $27

[grumpygresh]

Really, how stupid. Give her an ankle bracelet, a fine or have her do community service. This should be an embarrassment to our criminal justice system. U.S. has 655/100,000 prison rate highest in world by far.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

[SkyDancer]

And if she would have shot one it’d be the same sentence.

[GreyHoundSailor]

Our ‘coyotes’ have gray wolf DNA, so they’re bigger than your average coyote. We puree the liver and heart and our cat loves it. Fishers are a bigger threat than a fox for us.

[Dr. Sivana]

There’s a reason governments in the US usually never send really old people and bums to prison, there’s no money to be had, just expenses.

Yup. My former employer hired a print salesman who was down on his luck, and old German guy who never really recovered from a nasty divorce. He was sleeping in his 20 year old mid-sized Dodge, with expired registration and no insurance. Rockford, IL police pulled him over, and decided just to leave him be, that no good purpose would come of sending him to jail, and a few paychecks later he had a place (and I presume) a registration/insurance.

[MrEdd]

They had one of those crazy cat ladies in the Arlington neighborhood where my brother in law lives.

When she was finally put in the nursing home, people in the neighborhood got rid of all the cats.

The rest of the story (as Paul Harvey used to say) turned out to be that few other people in the neighborhood had any cats...and the area was a pecan orchard before it was developed. By the end of the next year, squirrels were a problem. Not a little problem. An eat the wires in your attic and car problem. A can’t get to work in the morning problem.

At this point it is eight years later and all the guys in the neighborhood still have to run out of the house with a BB gun and shoot when they see a squirrel.

I guess they could cut down all of those massive pecan trees...which would be nearly all the trees.

My solution would be to find another cat lady, and not complain about her.

[PAR35]

I don’t think a 15 pound feral cat would stand a chance against Baltimore rats. At least send 35 pound Texas bobcats so they’d have a fighting chance.

[Don W]

That also speaks to having far and away too many laws that incarcerate the “perp”.

Seriously, jail time for feeding cats? This is a sensible law and commensurate punishment?

Land of the “free” indeed.

[Albion Wilde]

She helped the cats, but also saved a lot of birds.

And illegals will do the work Americans won't do, right?

[wildcard_redneck]

“I personally find being around my animals easy but being around family, friends, or acquaintances to be work. You might need to reassess your reasoning. Perhaps some psychological counseling is in order.

Your concern for my mental health is much appreciated. All I can say is that when your are old and dependent upon others there is no way that a pet can take you to the doctor, help out with the house, and give you grandchildren like your own kids.

My guess is that you either never had kids or, if you do, that they suck.

[familyop]

Cats are a serious health threat.

Toxoplasma gondii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii

[Viking2002]

Hey, there's a good 'two birds with one stone' variant there. If she likes those damn fleaballs so much, have the local animal shelter scoop a few of them up, and have her volunteer at the shelter as part of her community service. Make her work off the cost of spaying, neutering, shots, tags (if any), delousing, all that jazz, and she can take them home. We have five indoor cats that my wife 'adopted' from outdoors under unusual circumstances as we were buying a new house, and I told her that not a one of them was going to set foot in the door unless they were fixed and de-fleaed. And furthermore, she's responsible for cleaning the litter boxes until the last of them goes paws-up. The Tootsie Rolls are bad enough, but ever try to chisel out petrified litter that's been peed on? It sets up like Portland cement after five minutes. And how can something that small make a stench that big? They make a dog smell like it's farting rose petals.........🤢🤣

[Innovative]

“And illegals will do the work Americans won’t do, right?”

Come on, your comment was totally inappropriate for this thread.

We are talking about old ladies and cats.

Who would you rather have around? I am for old ladies and cats. (and birds and dogs, I like them all)

[Boomer]

Never had kids and never wanted any. Have you seen this world lately?

[Cold Heart]

Mental illness caused by toxoplasmosis. T gondii parasite from cat feces.

[Albion Wilde]

People think it’s ok to break the laws they want to break; but it’s not ok when other people break the laws they want to break. Breaking the law again and again after numerous warnings is not cute or sweet; it’s defiant and hostile.

[Ezekiel]

What’s the rap on feeding skunks?

[Innovative]

It also depends what law you break, feeding stray cats is not equivalent to murdering a person.

[Hot Tabasco]

That was depressing to watch.......