A Vandercook Lake woman faces trial next week because she attracts abandoned or wild cats by feeding them.
Danni Joshua, 53, is charged by Summit Township of allowing animals to run at large, a misdemeanor violation of the Jackson County Animal Control and Protection Ordinance.
An estimated 15 to 20 feral cats live around Joshua’s yard off Helena Avenue, sparking complaints to the township.
“Their argument is if I feed them, I own them,” said Joshua, who belongs to Alley Cat Allies, an organization devoted to helping feral cats.
“They’re not my cats,” Joshua said. “I’ve been feeding them because some losers left them and they’re starving.”
Summit Township contends Joshua qualifies as the owner of the cats, and thus is subject to prosecution for letting them run loose, because she has “care, custody and control.”
“The township has given her numerous opportunities to rectify the problem without court involvement, but the defendant has refused to comply,” according to arguments filed in court by the township’s attorney, Michael K. Falahee.
“The township, therefore, was left with no reasonable alternative but to pursue this matter to trial.”
Trial is scheduled Nov. 18 in Jackson County District Court. If convicted, Joshua will face a maximum punishment of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Jackson attorney Eric White, whose office represents Summit and other townships, said this is the first prosecution in the county, to his knowledge, with such circumstances.
Joshua said she began feeding cats several years ago when a hungry-looking feral cat wandered into her yard during a barbecue.
“The real perpetrators are the people who dump off their cats,” she said. “That’s who the county should prosecute.”
Court records show Joshua was charged with the same offense in 2010, but prosecution was dropped. She said she was given a warning to “get rid” of the cats.
Law enforcement officers this summer gave her two warnings and then a misdemeanor ticket. They reported finding 11 cats on her property Aug. 4 and 14 on Aug. 12.
Joshua acknowledged as many as 17 cats have been in her yard, and they are “all over the neighborhood.”
“I don’t want them in my yard, either,” she said. “But I don’t want them to starve to death.”
She said the Humane Society won’t take feral cats and the county Animal Control Department did not respond to her phone calls.
Jackson County Undersheriff Christopher Kuhl said that as a matter of policy Animal Control officers do not catch stray or wild cats.
The Cascades Humane Society has a program called Forgotten Felines, described as “a management plan in which feral cats in Jackson County are humanely trapped, evaluated, vaccinated against rabies, and sterilized by a veterinarian. The cats are then returned to their familiar habitats under the lifelong care of a caretaker.”

She's causing a real problem with her actions. Keep feeding them and you've got a concentration of feral, unvaccinated cats in a residential area. That's exposing her neighbors to a lot of potential issues. Stop feeding the damned cats. They will go where there is food and the population will normalize.

She's causing a real problem with her actions. Keep feeding them and you've got a concentration of feral, unvaccinated cats in a residential area. That's exposing her neighbors to a lot of potential issues. Stop feeding the damned cats. They will go where there is food and the population will normalize.

I disagree. The County has a problem with feral cats. The neighbors have complained about feral cats. She has complained about feral cats. The County wants something done about the feral cats.

You know, there are times when government involvement makes sense. Government should go get the damn cats.

I disagree. The Government will put the cats to sleep. At least in the wild they have a chance to feed themselves.

She can feed them, I can leave traps or dishes of Antifreeze out. One of us can see a solution faster.

Poor kitties.