Sometimes, you must stand and fight for what is right, even when it looks hopeless. Susan B. Anthony got herself arrested, fighting for women's right to vote. Harriett Tubman risked slavery or death to help others to freedom. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed fighting for equal rights for all.

There is an unjust law in Clay County (Clay County Ordinance Sec. 15-3.3) that sentences innocent cats to death. If you feed the hungry feral cats at a Clay County Park, you can be fined up to $500 or be sent to jail. Signs frightening those who feed are posted at the usual feeding places at Main Street Park, Black Park and Trail and probably other parks.

If someone doesn’t feed them, these cats, who were just dumped there like so much garbage by uncaring people, will starve. Or worse, be trapped and killed by animal control. Most of these colonies have been there for years; it is their home. There are about 40 cats at Main Street Park and probably more at the Parks and Trails on (U.S.) Highway 17.

Often, the dumped cats are pregnant female cats or helpless kittens. They cannot hunt as well as the park’s wild residents, so they depend on the kindness of strangers. Many of us practice TNVR, which means we trap, neuter, vaccinate, release the cats back at their park, then feed them. In return, they offer free rodent and snake control.

Let our county commissioners know if you feel starving or killing cats is wrong. If they let me, I plan to attend the January County Commission Meeting and speak. I hope all cat lovers will be there to support me. You can get contact information for your county commissioner at claycountygov.com/government/board-of-county-commissioners.