Last week when I read a few articles in the Strib about a new city ordinance codifying feral cat colonies, my gut reaction was based on the last several encounters I and other neighbors have had with the crazy cat ladies. They were not pleasant. The photo above is from 2909 3rd Street North, a home I had actually looked into purchasing (quite literally, as it was continually open to trespass) prior to buying my house at 26th and Penn. The 3rd Street property had been taken over by feral cats, and later (or which came first, the feral cats or the crazy cat ladies? That is our existential question of the day.) by presumably well-intentioned people who put out both dry cat food and tins of Fancy Feast. I made repeated calls to 311. The house was broken open numerous times, and the cat food was replaced.
The interior of this property was, at one time, full of dozens of cats, most of them alive. Feces and urine made the floor a minefield of sorts. The stench was overwhelming, and the only thing that's harder than crazy cat ladies to remove from a property is the smell of cat urine. These supposedly goodhearted people will not acknowledge that they are damaging a home, and will not leave even when owners and neighbors confront them. And the odiferous after-effects of their presence lingers on well after they leave.
Complicating matters further is Minneapolis' trespassing ordinance, which in essence states that...
