BAY CITY, MI -- A mother calico cat and her five kittens police say were thrown into a street by their owner are recovering at Bay County Animal Control.
The mother cat, estimated to be about 2 years old, was relaxing at the shelter with her five kittens mewling about her on the afternoon of Monday, July 25. The cats were transferred to the facility from Bay Animal Hospital, 637 W. Center Road in Hampton Township, where they were evaluated for injuries.
None of the cats were injured when their owner, Lacey L. Williams, allegedly threw them into a street in a drunken rage the night of Wednesday, July 20, according to Bay County Prosecutor Kurt C. Asbury. Four of the kittens and their mother were recovered by police at the scene and turned over to an Animal Control officer. A fifth kitten was taken in and bottle-fed by a neighborhood resident before being surrendered to Animal Control.
The kittens will have to stay with their mother for about 8 more weeks, shelter staff said. On top of that, they cannot be adopted out as Williams needs to relinquish her ownership of them for that to happen, staff added.
Staff urged people not to contact them with inquiries on adopting the kittens or their mother.
Police at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, responded to 211 N. Madison Ave. for a call of Williams trying to kill kittens by throwing them in the street. The person who called 911 also said Williams had smashed out the windows of two vehicles, court records show.
Upon arrival, officers saw Williams pacing around in her front yard, yelling and screaming at a man across the street. Williams appeared highly intoxicated and agitated and was ranting in a way that made her difficult to understand, police wrote in their reports, contained in court files.
"I threw some little kittens out," Williams told police, according to court records. "I gave them their litter. I can't afford them. Do you want to pay for them?"
Williams went on to say she can do what she wants at her own home.
A Pontiac Montana van parked in her driveway had its rear window smashed out, court records show. Williams said she didn't know who owned the van.
As police spoke with Williams, a witness pointed out a cardboard box across the street. An officer approached the box and found it contained four kittens whose eyes hadn't opened yet. Nearby children then directed the officer to the kittens' mother, court records show.
"I took the cardboard box of kittens back across the street and put it near the mother cat," the officer wrote in her report. "I eventually pulled the mother cat out of the bushes and placed it in the box with the kittens."
Police arrested Williams at the scene. She is charged with single counts of cruelty to four to 10 animals and disorderly conduct in public. The former is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine, while the latter is a 90-day misdemeanor.
Williams has at least five felony and six misdemeanor convictions dating back to 1999. Her prior convictions increase the maximum potential penalty on the animal cruelty charge to 15 years in prison.
She is free on a $20,000 cash-surety bond. As a condition of her bond, she is not to have any animals in her care.
Williams is to appear for a preliminary examination at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 3.