At the January 13 Collinsville City Council meeting, Ciara Summers addressed the board about a woman at the end of Goethe Avenue who abandoned her ten cats outside. The neighborhood was being burdened trying to provide food, water, and shelter for the cats. When neighbors called the animal shelter, they refused to come pick up the cats. Summers then decided to help by taking one of the cats (Mr. B) she was able to coax into a carrier. She was then ticketed and sent to court under the charges of unlawful animal enforcement. Her question to the council was if the Collinsville Police Department attempts to charge everyone who tries to bring an animal to the shelter.
After this publication ran the city council story for that week, neighbors shared that 10 cats were left outside after the owner was evicted from the home she had been renting around October, leaving them to fend for themselves throughout the winter.
Summers was ticketed for “unlawful enforcement of an animal control ordinance” and “allowing an animal to become a public charge”. She appeared in city court on January 22 and refused to pay $50 fine and will return to city court on February 19.
Police Chief Brett Boerm had no comment since it is an open court case…