Local woman evicted for feeding stray cats
Like 1 Dislike 0 Published on 13 Oct 2015
JASPER - Jessica Crawford
An elderly Jasper woman received an eviction notice for feeding stray cats July 1.
Mary Alford, 69, had ten days to appeal the eviction, but she didn't understand how to do it. Now, she has about a week to find a place to stay.
"Everybody sins and comes short of the glory of God, but I just loved animals, you know?," says Alford.
Alford lives at the Myrtis Village Apartments, a Jasper public housing unit. Cats occasionally walk up to her porch.
"That little ole cat was just dragging, couldn't move so I fed it some water and put a little bit of food out there," says Alford.
Alford was served with an eviction notice for doing just that.
The notice says she was warned twice before not to feed stray cats, a violation of Housing Authority rules. Alford says she forgot, citing poor memory due to a stroke.
"So I just have to pay the consequences, I guess, because I love animals," she says.
Executive Housing Director John Molt says the rule is in place to keep tenants safe, but a Jasper City Councilwoman who lives in the apartment complex with Alford, says the punishment doesn't fit the crime.
"There are worse crimes than feeding a cat. A stray cat. A cat that's hungry," says Councilwoman Hazel Johnson, a friend of Alford.
Johnson says she's trying to find another place for Alford to live, but hasn't had any luck.
"I did call Woodville yesterday, and there's a waiting list so she can't get in there right away," she says.
Johnson hopes to hold a meeting that could stop Alford's eviction, but she doesn't know if the plan will work for sure.
"I can only hope that the good Lord finds me a place to live," says Alford.