Ludington Considers Ban on Feeding the Homeless

[XLFD]

The headline stood out on page three of today's Ludington Daily News.  How callous of an idea, to not allow people to feed the homeless under penalty of law.  If someone feels compassionate enough or hospitable enough to share a morsel and some beverage with those who are down on their luck, what is a local government entity doing telling me I cannot do such an act of caring.  But before I bloviate any more here is what the article with the title above said*: 

 

The Ludington City Council Monday will consider approving a ban on feeding the homeless...

City Manager John Shay is recommending the council approve an ordinance that would ban people from feeding the homeless in the city and stated that the council’s Public Safety Committee is recommending adoption.

In notes to the council, Shay stated that feeding the homeless has led to an increase in complaints about the homeless having many litters and making messes in residents’ yards.

 

Having many litters?!  Before you start urging the local food banks, soup kitchens, and your local church who do so much for all those that do fall through the cracks in our society (particularly those who do so through no fault of their own) to muster their forces and defeat this ordinance, realize that I have done one alteration of the newsprint to suggest a point.  "The homeless" was a substitution for "stray cats", who are indeed homeless in a sense.

                            Please, don't feed the members of this '80s rockabilly group under penalty of law.

 

Am I writing this to defend the wisdom of feeding stray cats?  No.  Am I writing this to defend the right of someone to care enough about a starving animal to share food with it without having to be declared an outlaw, defend themselves in court, and pay a hefty civil fine because they dare have the compassion to help one of God's creatures survive another day?  Yes.

 

When any government starts trying to regulate the freedom of individuals to care about other living creatures, we should begin to know that government is overstepping its authority.  A City Government has no power to tell you whether you can feed that alley cat, anymore than it can tell you that you cannot take it in or nurse a sick one back to health.  Here are some facts about feral and stray cats from our Canadian friends:  Feral Cat Project

If, in a few years, an emaciated ex-City Manager John Shay came up to me on the street and begged me to give him some of my food, the second thing I'd do would be to give him some food.  The first thing, of course, would be to remind him of the restraining order I had on him, LOL.  Compassion of individuals should always defeat the social engineering of power-hungry City Halls. 

 

[XLFD]

Anecdotally, I have seen less stray cats this year than just about any other.  In my neighborhood, I only see neighbors' cats out and about, and they are fixed toms. 

In similar manner, the City Manager reacted apparently to some anecdotal account of strays around Filer Street, and so it may just be a local problem in that area, or it may just be overblown stories by a cat hater or two. 

[AQUAMAN]

I wish Catwoman was around right now................

[XLFD]

The latest CC minutes are available and they show the following proposed ordinance, which Public Safety Committee Chairman Gary Castonia and Kaye Holman moved and seconded for adoption (note: sections a-d refer to existing code) :

(e) Feeding. No person shall intentionally feed, make available nor allow another person to make available food, for any animal (whether domesticated or wild) not owned by them on public property or private premises. This prohibition excludes the following:
The use of bird feeders on private property used for the purpose of feeding wild birds.
The short-term feeding of animals owned by another on private property wherein specific permission was given to them by the owner of said animal.
(f) Violation. A violation of this section shall constitute a municipal civil infraction.

 

Once again, our Manistee City Attorney writes a law that makes the simplest things you do illegal, whether it is throwing an ort of bread to a pigeon anywhere in the city, or feeding a cat or dog or any animal, that isn't owned by you, inside the privacy of your own house. 

Get the heck out of my house, non-official City Attorney Dick Wilson and City Manager John Shay, and let me apportion my own food as I see fit!

[AQUAMAN]

Maybe they want to create a few new jobs, a "cat patrol", similar to our now famous "beach patrol". More pressing business in Ludville that must be seen as high priority and taken seriously nowadays.

[Robert]

Will the Parking Ambassador  be in charge of enforcing this new ordinance? If that is the case the kitties have no worries. While an outsider I find it hard to imagine just how this enforcement will take place, or if such problems even exists.  Since illegal parking isn’t enforced,  just wasted time by the CC. I just got my first cat so by no means an expert but have encountered only one feral cat in my lifetime. Since cats aren’t licensed  in most communities, I think it would take a pretty keen eye to tell a feral from someone’s pet. Sounds like if you have a neighbor that you don’t get along with, they could pull the “cat” card. and have someone come on your private property looking for a cat bowl.

[AQUAMAN]

Cat-card and cat-bowl kinda describes our dilemma, or is cathouse more appropriate? Only Lee Marvin knows for sure.............!?

[XLFD]

The Ludington City Hallers just don't get it.  They create an ordinance that makes perfectly acceptable behavior against the law, and would find that if they go about enforcing it, they will likely put themselves at risk for violating civil rights. 

If a starving little kitten came mewing around my domicile, I would feed it, law or not.  If I was eating a sub at a local park, I might throw some of it to the seagulls if I wasn't able to finish it or just feeling generous, without worrying about a hefty fine.  Can I grow a vegetable garden in town without worrying about a citation if some feral animal comes around to nibble on it?  The proposed law says so.

When a government becomes too power hungry, they will go about making laws about inane little things like this which infringes on the civil rights of all, before actually looking to see whether there is a problem or whether there is a better way to solve it.