A 74-year-old woman who helped break a window to rescue a cat stuck in a tin can has agreed to pay for damages, but says she'd do it all again if needed.
Carol Keefer lives at the Golden Age building on Worthington St. and often walks past Leather Trend on Main St.
Last week she tapped on the window to check on the cats, but the silver and black tabby failed to show and she feared it might be dead.
"There were tons of flies everywhere and we knew that Rob (owner Rob Szalas) was in jail," she told BayToday. "The place is a wreck. It looks like World War 1 has been fought in there. I think the cats had been chasing mice."
Others had tried to help the animals, raising the front door enough to slip water and food underneath.
Concerned, she called the Humane Society for help.
"A guy answered and started making smart-ass remarks and I got really mad and hung up on him."
Her next effort was to visit the Chamber of Commerce office just down the street. They suggested talking with DIA manager Jeff Serran, but he was out of town.
Then on that fateful Tuesday, Carol and others were gathered around the door trying to feed the orange and white cat.
"All of a sudden we heard 'bang, bang, bang,' and we looked in the window and here was the other kitty with a Friskies cat food can on his head and he couldn't get it off. He was banging on the window and very weak...falling over because he hadn't eaten or had any water.
"That was an emergency to me!
"I called 911 and another guy was on the phone to the police department. I got hung up on promptly and I thought, 'For God's sakes, they don't care either. Nobody gives a shit about these cats and that's not right."
The senior citizen was frustrated.
"I got really angry when the cops said there was nothing they could do so I took a hammer and smashed the bottom of the window because one lady said 'If you can get it open a bit I'll get my arm in there and pull the tin off the cat's head so he can eat,' so that's what I did."
The other woman managed to make the hole bigger and remove the tin.
"I didn't care. One lady was screaming, 'What do you think you're doing, that's vandalism' and I said, 'I don't care, there's a cat in there dying."
Take our poll: Do you think rescuing a cat with a can stuck on its head justified breaking the window at Leather Trend?
Although the crowd urged her to make the hole big enough to rescue the cats, she knew the cats wouldn't leave.
"They won't come out. This is their home. They've lived there forever and they've torn the store apart looking for mice and food."
She left, but it wasn't long before police tracked Carol down.
"A cop came up and banged on the door. I knew it was him. I could tell by the way cops always knock. He said, 'Do you have any idea why I'm here?' I said, 'Yes, the window of course. I did it. I'm not saying I didn't. I did it because it was an emergency to get the can off the cat's head.
"He said, 'What do you want me to do. We can drag it through court or you can pay for it.'"
"I said I'll pay for the window. I'll have to do it in installments because I don't have any money.
"I did it to save a cat. Nobody in this town does anything...there were 15 people out there. All these people threatening to break a window and finally I got sick of hearing it. The cat was in distress and I love animals so I broke the window."
But even with a big bill for damage hanging over her head, she has no regrets.
"That cat was in a situation, even with the food and water pushed under the door, that he was going to die. How can a whole town sit there and let that cat die because, 'ooh you can't do that' (break the window).
"That's not me, I'm not going to do that."
