Simple Assault Charges for Pennsylvania Woman Involved in Feral Cat Controversy

A small town in Pennsylvania has been battling feral cats for several years now, and that battle is only heating up as one of the women at the center of the feral cat allegedly assaulted her husband with a chair.

According to documents filed in McKean County Magisterial District Judge Dominic Cercone's office, Police have accused 55-year-old Catherine Langella of simple assault and harassment.

Police responded to a call October 22 at about 10:45 in the morning to the law office of local attorney Ron Langella.

The attorney told police that his wife, Catherine, punched him and threw a chair at him. Bradford City Police Officer Mike Ward reported that Ron Langella's clothes were torn, and he had some slight injuries.

Catherine Langella was arraigned and released on $5,000 bail. She is scheduled to reappear in court October 31.

Last year, Langella was charged with disorderly conduct after a reported dispute with neighbors over the feral cat problem. Her neighbor told police that she brandished a gun and made threats and innuendo toward the neighbor's dog over one of her cats that had apparently been shot.

Langella was at the center of a bitter battle in Bradford over a group of feral cats that she has continued to feed at her home on East Main Street.

The Bradford City Board of Health cited three Bradford Residents for feeding the cats.

City Clerk John Peterson told local media outlets that they were given 14 days to stop feeding the cats, or the city would begin trapping them.

Complaints about the homeless cats urinating, defecating, and spraying in people's yards, on porches, and on children's play equipment and outdoor toys continued to be brought up at Bradford City Council meetings. Neighbors and local residents were concerned about health risks, and possible wild cat attacks on small children.

Code Enforcement Officer George Corignani tells local media outlets that about 20 cats have been trapped in that neighborhood so far, not by the city, but from neighbors using humane traps. The animals are then taken to the SPCA, where they are fed and taken care of until either adopted or euthanized.