Hello there furiends and happy Wednesday!
We haven’t much to report in our neck of the woods simply because we can’t figure out from day to day what’s going to happen with the weather.

Still, we felines aren’t too bothered as long as The Human maintains the temperature to our liking and what we like is a nice fire in the evening.

We haven’t been completely parked in front of the fire. Oliver and I are always on duty in the morning to help The Human get ready.

We hope things are going well in your neck of the woods and that you enjoy this weeks web wanderings.

Gravity? What’s That?

These felines have no problem scaling walls.

‘Trespassing’ Cat Placed in ‘Kitty Jail’ Wins $125,000 Settlement

Oliver is a bit put out that this woman in Bellevue, Washington didn’t contact him for his services. I mean, we’re only a mountain pass away. I think Ollie needs some marketing help. But I digress. This story is about a human who won a $125,000 settlement following a three-year court battle about her cat, Miska.

This poor human received more than $30,000.00 in fines over that that time for claims that Miska had “trespassed and taunted pets in the neighborhood”. At one point Miska was even taken away from her human and forced to do a stint in the feline penitentiary.

Well this human was having none of this and so she filed a lawsuit against King County, the city of Bellevue and other government entities.

The cat’s attorney, Jon Zimmerman, stated, “This case was about the unjustified and incredible prosecution of a domestic house cat in Bellevue,” This was really an historic settlement involving a cat in the state of Washington.”

It was alleged, a neighbor who is the manager of the Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) was behind many of the complaints. Anna Danieli and her team alleged “governmental overreach” in the lawsuit. They also argued her violations should be voided because the City of Bellevue failed to update its domestic cat code.

The lawsuit also resulted in a court order for changes in Bellevue’s city code and the way civil offenses involving animals are heard.

Miska’s human stated on Miska’s website, “This case exposed how government officials can use their influence and positions to take unjust and unreasonable action against neighbors and other people in their personal lives. This victory affirms that citizens ought to be able to rely on the laws as written, and not on backroom agreements by politicians.”

I am a feline who believes in stopping government overreach and in punishing politicians who play dirty. Paws up to Miska and her human!

Sometimes you pick a cat, sometimes the cat picks you

Oh meowza, this little kitty made himself at home on a boat and he now shares his digs with his brofur

50 Times Cats Made Their Owners Wonder “What’s Wrong With My Cat”

There is a subreddit called “What’s Wrong with Your Cat” where people share photos of their felines being weird. Some of these pictures made me meow out loud however there were a number of photos where Oliver, Lily and I found ourselves asking, “What’s wrong with that?” We’ll let you be the judge.

B.C. strata tenant wins bid to keep three emotional support cats

And while we’re talking about felines and legal issues, the British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal ruled that a woman can keep her three emotional support cats despite her strata’s ban on more than one pet. I had to dig out some info on what a strata is. It’s a form of housing where the owners own their individual strata lots and together own the common property and common assets as a strata corporation.  If you want to learn more I got my info here.

It was undisputed in the case that the strata’s bylaws say an owner, tenant, or occupant may only have one cat or one dog and a complaint was received regarding three cats in the house. The tenant responded to the complaint stating that the cats were support animals and she attached a letter from a licensed social worker.

 “Jennifer’s cats are a long standing and an integral part of Jennifer’s treatment plan in managing and regulating her anxiety,” the social worker wrote. “I would recommend that Jennifer continue to have her cats in her home for the ongoing emotional support they provide her.”

The strata respond saying it needed medical documentation. A doctor’s letter was supplied outlining the woman’s diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder and suggested she be able to keep her cats. Another doctor submitted a letter as well but the strata council denied the requests stating they didn’t have the expertise to evaluate whether the pets were necessary in the situation, and had “neither the expertise nor the authority to grant this accommodation.” Call me simple but wasn’t that noted in the letters from the medical professionals?!

The council told Lenius and Schlosser to apply to the Human Rights Tribunal and that the strata had to enforce the one-pet bylaw.

There were some more shenanigans from the counsel until Vancouver attorney Laura Track said human rights law are clear that stratas and other housing providers, like landlords and co-ops, must reasonably accommodate a resident’s disability-related needs.

 “In this case, the medical evidence was clear that this person had been relying on her cats to support her with her mental health issues for many years, and would suffer significant detrimental impacts if the cats were removed,” Track said. “This kind of medical support is key to the success of a human rights claim.”

Second, she said, if a strata is going to refuse to accommodate someone’s disability, they have to be able to explain why.

“In legal terms, they have to show a bona fide and reasonable justification for refusing the accommodation,” the lawyer said. The article did not tell us what happened to the lady and her three felines; we hope they found a new place to live.

Evidently these cases are becoming more common in Canada. Purrhaps Oliver should move his law purrractice farther north!

Portland cat gains following, shares ‘deep thoughts’ on a window

The Buckman neighborhood in southeast Portland, Oregon has a ginger tabby named Andy who is always busy sharing his thoughts with the world. Andy’s human, Hayley Cassatt, has created clever or punny sayings that she displays on a window were Andy likes to sit or sleep. While Andy naps you might see a speech bubble on the window that says, “I’m craving a purr-ito” or “The feline is mutual.” Cassatt’s father was a cartoonist and he loved puns so in honor of him, she began the window comments. She changes the sayings every month.

Andy, a former shelter feline, has become famous and now has more than 2K followers on Instagram and her human says all this attention is making her a bit of a diva.  We say bravo! Everyone needs a bit of feline humor in their day!