By:
CHANDLER, Ariz. Animal rights activists say a local woman is anything but the cat’s meow after she was charged with reckless endangerment for abandoning her feline friend and attempting to relocate to a new residence.
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"We find this kind of behavior to be deplorable. I think we know who the real diva is." Janice Cuthrow, PETA |
Jana "Buddy" Lee, 25, was charged by police on Tuesday after her cat, Diva, was found wandering the streets of Mesa. Authorities said Diva, who appeared to be high on catnip, was on her way to Scottsdale, where Lee works for Homestore.com.
"The cat was a little disoriented, but she seemed to be on a mission," Officer Charlie Jackson said. "And she looked pissed."
Officers followed Diva to Scottsdale, where the cat led them directly to her odious owner, who was standing outside the building, smoking a cigarette. Police said Lee claimed the cat left on her own, escaping the apartment through an open door.
However, a Homestore.com employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Lee had been bragging about her exploits just prior to the arrival of Diva and the police.
"She had a crazed look in her eyes," the employee said. "She finished her story, and sort of gave a menacing laugh as she put out her cigarette. I was thankful when the police arrived."
Lee’s attorney, Julius Marx, said his client was suffering from work-related stress and suffered flashbacks to a childhood incident in which "The Cat and the Hat" was read to her 30 times during a two-day period. He said his client was in need of help, not catcalls and vilification.
"She feared if she kept a cat for too long, Thing One and Thing Two might arrive," Marx said. "Especially on a day when it was too wet to go out and too cold to play ball. So she’d sit in the house and do nothing at all.
"On one of those days," Marx added, "she said she saw the cat balancing a fish bowl on a rake."
Janice Cuthrow, executive director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said no one was buying the defense’s claims.
"We find this kind of behavior to be deplorable," Cuthrow said. "I think we know who the real diva is."