Stray Cats Found in Contempt of Court

Paw prints on his Cadillac have prompted a San Fernando judge to turn his attention from felons to felines--with the harshest of penalties in mind.

Alleging that dangerous “wild cats” are destroying cars in a judges’ parking lot, Superior Court Judge Robert D. Fratianne has warned courthouse workers to immediately stop feeding the animals “or I will personally take steps to eradicate the cats.”

In a memorandum distributed Tuesday, Fratianne, the presiding judge of the court, told courthouse workers, “If any of you are so enamored with these animals, please capture them and take them home.”

Fratianne said he was moved to write the memo after finding paw prints of tar and claw marks Monday on his newly cleaned, cream-colored Cadillac. “It took me two hours to scrub the car,” he said.

By Wednesday, Fratianne was insisting that the memo was “humorously intended” and that he had the best interests of the cats in mind. But he also reported that his order had prompted a barrage of cat jokes and requests that he adopt kittens.

“This morning, I come in here, and my private phone rings, and I pick up the phone and I hear ‘meow, meow,’ ” he said. “And do you know what the bailiff was going to do? He was going to take the shotgun from downstairs and put it on my desk this morning.”

Although most courthouse workers were, indeed, laughing about the incident Wednesday, Fratianne did gain support from some deputy district attorneys. They said two stray cats frequent the parking lot, including a black “killer cat” that hisses and leaps at passers-by.

One Feline Allegedly Attacks

“Do not try to give any food to the black one,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth L. Barshop said. “It will attack you.”

Fratianne said he is a humanitarian and has nothing against animals, but that he became frustrated as people continued to set out milk and kibbles for the cats for the last year and a half.

“Why should we endanger these cats’ lives in the parking lot?” he asked. “Why should they have to rely on the courtroom personnel to feed them?”

Fratianne, who is known as a law-and-order judge, said the word “eradicate” simply meant that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will be contacted to remove the cats if the problem persists.

Wednesday afternoon, a rectangular, wire animal trap sat outside the judges’ exit to the parking lot. But there was no food to tempt the felines inside, and the trap door was closed.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosalie L. Morton, who vouched for the volatile nature of the black cat, said courthouse workers took Fratianne’s memo in stride.

“No one really takes him seriously,” Morton said with a twinkle in her eye. “No one ever does.”