SHREWSBURY: PAIR GUILTY IN WILD CAT CASE
Some of the makeshift housing created for a colony of cats behind a preschool in Shrewsbury, as seen last July. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two women were found guilty of fostering a “nuisance” colony of feral cats in a Shrewsbury office park Tuesday.
Jeanette Petti of Oceanport and Ruth Rapkin of Tinton Falls say they will appeal the verdict by municipal court Judge James Berube, as well as his order that they each pay $650 in fines and relocate the colony. That, their lawyer said, would be a “death sentence” for five cats the women feed and provide medical care for.
“We should be considered heroes, not criminals,” for ensuring the health of the wild felines and thus, the community, Petti told redbankgreen after a two-and-a-half-hour trial at a special session of the court.