“But the cat was cool, and he never said a mumblin’ word.” Country singer Hoyt Axton, “Della and the Dealer.”
A stubborn feline cost a Colorado man a novel citation Wednesday after his cat, Stella, refused to keep up with her jogging owner. He leashed her to a rock and continued his run, only to return to the waiting arms of the Lafayette law.
A passerby called police, and they collared Seth Franco, 19, when he returned a few minutes later to retrieve the animal. Officers said the cat was under siege from birds when they arrived. Franco was cited for “domestic animal cruel treatment,” a municipal offense, because, as one officer said, “Our ordinance prohibits that kind of tethering.”
The cat was uninjured and released to its owner — after he signed the citation.
