A 79-Year-Old Woman Was Just Sentenced to 10 Days in Jail for Feeding Stray Cats

(TMU) — An elderly Ohio woman has been sentenced to 10 days in the Cuyahoga County jail. The 79-year-old will soon find herself in jail for feeding stray cats and not stopping after being warned to do so thanks to Magistrate Jeffrey Short.

Nancy Segula lives in Garfield Heights, Ohio, where it is illegal to feed stray cats and dogs under ordinance 505.23.

Segula told local news outlet WJW:

“It began in 2017 with me feeding stray kitties. 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.”

Nancy Segula and her family says the punishment is far too harsh.

“It’s too much of a sentence for me for what I’m doing. When there are so many people out there that do bad things.”

Her son, Dave Pawlowksi, is concerned for his mother’s safety while in jail.

“I couldn’t believe what my mother was telling me. She gets 10 days in the county jail, I couldn’t believe it. I’m sure people hear about the things that happen downtown in that jail. Not a lot of good things at all and they are going to let my 79 year old mother go there?” 

Garfield Heights is apparently no stranger to punishing elderly women for the simple act of feeding stray cats. The Mind Unleashed found similar news footage from 2013, when police ticketed a different Garfield Heights resident by the name of Nancy.

The 79-year-old Segula has to report to the jail by August 11.

By Emma Fiala | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com