Cats Back
Boston’s cat lady can have her hoarded kitty corpses back, Supreme Judicial Court rules:
BOSTON (AP) _ The state’s highest court says a woman who stored dozens of dead cats in her apartment can keep two seized by the city — as long as she complies with city health codes.
Cat breeder Heidi Erickson was charged with animal cruelty after officials found five malnourished cats, one malnourished dog and more than 60 dead cats in her Beacon Hill apartment in 2003. Most of the dead cats were stored in freezers, but some were wrapped in plastic and left in bedrooms.
The city of Boston fought an order to return two of her dead cats after Erickson was convicted in 2005.
When a single justice of the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled she could have them back if she made arraignments for their proper disposal, Erickson appealed, arguing the order interfered with her property rights.
In a ruling Thursday, the full court said the single justice’s order does not require Erickson to destroy or discard the animals, but says that whatever she does with them — including keeping them — must comply with health codes.
It was unclear what Erickson plans to do with the dead animals. Her attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
“We would say that there is no way to keep a dead animal on your property and abide by health codes,” said Jake Wark, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Conley, whose office prosecuted Erickson for the animal cruelty charges.
Not clear why the high court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is wasting its time with dead cats, when it could be legislating social policy. There’s got to be more important cases out there … I dunno, a Massachusetts National Guard infantrywoman trapped in a Massachusetts National Guard infantryman’s body, something like that. That said, it is important to preserve and protect the rights of all. You know the old saying, “First they came for the dead cat hoarders. But I was not a dead cat hoarder, so I said nothing … “
Topics: law & order, moronocy
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:12 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2007
4 Responses to “Cats Back”
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December 8th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Well, gee. I’m happy for her?
What would our society do without crazy cat ladies?
December 8th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Would throwing a dead cat at the kids who walk on her lawn qualify as a violation of health codes?
December 8th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
My local town has ordnances about burying dead animals in the yard. And this lady can keep dead cats in her house? Ick.
December 9th, 2007 at 1:29 am
If “there is no way to keep a dead animal on your property and abide by health codes”, does that make bug collections illegal in Boston? A Bostonian once told me that the Boston equivalent of “would you like to come up and see my etchings?” is “would you like to come up and see my bug collection?”. Not the best city for such a draconian law.