Grandinetti Targeted By Cat Lovers Online For Proposed Anti-Cat Legislation
by Mike Hudson
When the Niagara Falls Reporter broke the story of city Councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti’s draconian anti-cat legislation here a couple of weeks ago, we had no idea that she would become the target of harassment and threats from cat lovers across the country.
Sometimes a conflict has to occur before a solution can be found,” said Grandinetti, who is no stranger to conflict. Her sometimes bizarre Facebook postings alone have generated reams of newspaper copy.
Grandinetti filed a police report over harassing messages that encouraged her to “drown your children” and “kill yourself,” delivered both through Facebook and to her personal email account.
The violent remarks directed at Grandinetti were delivered by individuals digitally, and it is uncertain who the distributor, or distributors, of the messages were. According to the report filed with the Niagara Falls Police Department, Grandinetti claimed “aggravated harassment.”
“I would like to see you drugged and (urinated) on,” one message said.
“Do us a favor and kill yourself,” read another.
A majority of her more sensible colleagues moved to table Grandinetti’s proposal earlier this month before it saw the light of day.
“No cat shall be fed, sheltered, maintained or harbored that is not domesticated,” her proposed new rules stated. “No person shall harbor, maintain or feed any unlicensed or stray cat.”
In Grandinetti’s perfect world, cats would no longer be permitted to “interfere with garbage receptacles,” or to “defecate, urinate or dig” on any property not belonging to the cat owner.
Exactly what constitutes a “domesticated” cat was never spelled out.
Criminal penalties for stray cat feeders and harborers were clearly spelled out by Grandinetti.
“Any person who observes or has knowledge of a cat violating any provision of this chapter may file a signed complaint under oath with the animal control officer or the city specifying the objectionable conduct of the cat and the name and address, if known, of the person harboring said cat.”
Grandinetti’s rules were replete with penalties for non-compliance, with fines of up to $250 and jail sentences of up to 15 days for repeat violations.
Amy Lewis, Niagara County Director of Niagara County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, spoke strongly against the Grandinetti legislation. Last September, Lewis made headlines when she took to the airwaves and made a startling claim. There are more feral cats, 60,000, in the city of Niagara Falls than there are people, 49,000, she stated. While many doubted her allegation, she never took it back.
In a national survey by the Humane Society of the United States, it was estimated that there are 60-100 million feral cats in the U.S., with approximately 17 million people feeding about half of them.
In any event, one thing is for certain. Grandinetti’s proposed cat legislation is deader than the deadest cat you’ve ever seen by the side of the road. Her propensity for causing controversy, both in person and on the internet seems very much alive, however.
