Henrico County asked the Henrico Circuit Court this week to uphold a ruling that bars a woman from caring for feral cats in her own backyard.
In court papers filed Tuesday, the county argues that the Board of Zoning Appeals was right in its decision that Susan Mills violated county code by caring for feral cats on her property.
The county's response comes on the heels of a petition filed last week by Mills' attorneys, John M. "Jack" Robb III and William H. Shewmake, asking the court to overturn or modify the board's decision.
"The board affirmatively alleges no citizen has a 'personal and property' right to violate a duly enacted ordinance of the county," the county's filing said. "Mills has no right to care for feral cats on her property."
The Board of Zoning Appeals ruled 4-1 last month that caring for feral cats is not a permitted use of residential areas because it is not a customarily incidental use to a residence.
During that hearing, Deputy County Attorney J.T. "Tom" Tokarz said there was no evidence that a significant number of county residents care for feral cats, so it cannot be considered something normally done at a residence.
In an emailed statement, Robb said the issue is straightforward.
"Does a homeowner have the right to provide care to an injured or starving stray cat that comes onto the homeowner's property?" he wrote. "We are confident the evidence will show that it is not at all unusual for a homeowner's heart to go out to an injured or starving cat and to provide it care."
The county acknowledges in the filing that some county residents feed feral cats but not enough to establish it as a usual or habitual practice for residents of single-family homes.
Mills, who has said she is one of the original residents of the Laurel Pines subdivision in western Henrico, has been feeding feral cats off and on for years.
She was cited July 7 for providing care to seven feral cats living behind her house. She fed them twice a day and has had them spayed or neutered and taken them to get their rabies shots.
If she does provide care for the feral cats, she could be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Feral cats are defined as companion animals by state and county code, but so too are primates, exotic animals and reptiles. The county argues that the Board of Zoning Appeals only addressed the care of feral cats, not the broader category of companion animals.
"This case does not involve the right to feed great apes, crocodiles or bears on back porches, and there is no right to do so — or to feed feral cats — just because they are defined as 'companion animals,'" the filing said.
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