Animal Law

A wheelchair-using cat must be leashed, ticketed woman learns

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A Florida woman has been ticketed for failing to use a leash when walking her disabled cat, who uses a wheelchair.

Yvonne Steel of Melbourne bought a two-wheeled device for her cat, Pooh Bear, because he can’t use his back legs, WESH reports. She received $230 in tickets on Tuesday for failing to leash her cat and her Chihuahua, and for a rabies shot violation, the story says.

“That was my very first knowledge that cats could not be allowed off the leash,” Steel told the broadcast station. “I wouldn’t even know where to put the leash, to be quite honest.”

Capt. Bob Brown of Brevard County Animal Services said Steel was warned about needing a leash, and police have video of her walking her other dogs, German Shepherds, without leashes, the story says.

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