79-year-old Nancy Segula is facing jail time after she fed local stray cats.
The pensioner from Ohio has been feeding the cats for years but even though hungry felines love the woman’s passion for them, her neighbors dislike her acts of kindness.
After three years of complaints, citations, and warnings, Segula is now facing jail time and is expected to serve ten days behind bars.
Explaining why she has risked a lot for the feline animals in her community, the Garfield Heights pensioner said to Fox 8 Cleveland: “I’m a cat lover.”
She added: “I used to have a neighbor that had a couple cats and he moved away, so he left them. I would always feed them and care for them because I was worried about them and I’m a cat lover. Once my neighbors got upset about it, they called the animal warden.”
Segula told Cleveland.com that the cats have helped her ease the pain she still suffers from the death of her husband.
“I miss my own kitties, they passed away, my husband passed away. I’m lonely. So the cats and kitties outside help me.”
Her son, Dave Pawlowski, has argued that being jailed for feeding stray cats is just too harsh. “I couldn’t believe what my mother was telling me. She gets 10 days in the county jail, I couldn’t believe it,” he said to Fox 8.
“I’m sure people hear about the things that happen downtown in that jail. And they are going to let my 79-year-old mother go there?”
Segula and her feline friends have a long history with the police officers. It started three years ago when residents demanded that the local Animal Warden take action against the pensioner for giving food to stray cats.
The complaints didn’t stop and the Animal Warden ordered Segula to clear the area of cats at her home. She was also ordered to stop feeding the animals. However, she continued to feed the cats.
In 2017, she was convicted of ‘having too many cats’ at her home so she was placed on probation. She was then hit with another citation for ‘failing to properly dispose of animal waste.’
But Segula didn’t stop feeding the cats. She was sentenced to ten days for ‘contempt of court’ in the Cuyahoga County Jail.
“Mrs. Segula has never been arrested by the Police Department or the Animal Warden, she has been cited and summoned into court to respond to the numerous city ordinance violations and probation violations,” police said.
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