I can only come to the conclusion Kristy “Cat Woman” Grant, operator of Cat Tail Corner cat sanctuary, is being persecuted. Otherwise, why would the County of Volusia keep harassing her with fines, court and code enforcement actions?
What she does is provide a sanctuary for feral, stray and abandoned cats on her 10-acre property in the wilds of Pierson. The cats are neutered, inoculated and tagged. The sanctuary is nonprofit. Kristy spends most of her income from teaching on it.
At first, the cats weren’t tagged, one source of fines. Kristy made a few other mistakes in dealing with the county, like not bringing a lawyer with her to a county meeting.
She’s done the right things – enclosing the property with a special fence to contain the cats, and trying to work with county staff.
Instead of trying to run her out of the cat-sanctuary business, the county should be working with her. She saves them money. She offers a humane alternative to euthanasia.
Apparently, the county, in its wisdom, doesn’t care about that.
Code Enforcement came after Grant for having more than four “pets” on her property. The county sees no difference between an apartment-dweller and the operator of a shelter on a 10-acre spread. Big fines ensued.
Back in July 2006, the county Planning Board recommended approval for the special exception, with a few restrictions. Volusia County Animal Control inspected and said everything was shipshape — in good order.
Instead of issuing her a license for the sanctuary, as a judge told the county to do last year, county officials said Kristy must to apply for a special exception for her sanctuary. Trouble is, they couldn’t tell her the requirements for getting a special exception.
Now, code enforcement has come after Kristy for having her RV hooked to utilities.
She wouldn’t need to be living in an RV if it weren’t for all the county fines she can’t pay, resulting in a county lien on her property, Kristy said. As a result, she can’t get a loan to rebuild her house, which burned down a little over a year ago.
Maybe the county should make a special exception, and work with Kristy Grant.