DUDLEY, Mass. -- In one Massachusetts town it is now illegal to have more than three feline friends without a special license.
Voters at a town meeting in Dudley on Monday night added language to a town bylaw that makes it illegal to own more than three cats without a $50 residential kennel license.
The article was in response to a feud between two neighbors and Mary Ellen Richards who owns 15 cats.
The town chairperson said the cats were causing the two neighbors quite the headache.
"The animal feces, the dead mice, the cat in the garage," said Paul Joseph, Dudley Town Chairman.
However, Richard's neighborhood is not zoned for kennels so she is incurring a fine of $100 per day.
Her bill nears $2,000.
"It makes me very sad. Also, it makes me wonder how it's going to be enforced because who's going to go around and count people's cats," Richards said.
Richards plans to move to a more feline friendly neighborhood. She has hired a lawyer and has no paid any of the fines. She plans to fight them until she can get out of town.
The beefed up bylaw went into effect after Monday's 30 to 15 town vote. Owning three dogs is already illegal in Dudley.
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