Couple guilty on 4 counts of feeding feral cats in Augusta

A Kansas couple is found guilty of feeding and giving water to feral cats in Augusta.

A judge is now ordering them to pay a fine of $150 per person for each count on which they are guilty.

Ray and Sue Jones were disappointed by the judge's decision Tuesday. Eyewitness News spoke with their lawyer after the trial.

"I think it was pretty harsh," attorney John Johnson says. "(But) I think the judge was very considerate. I mean, he looked at the evidence and took a very well-reasoned approach to his ruling, and it is what it is."

Ray and Sue Jones were initially charged with 21 counts, including nuisance, allowing cats to run at large and failing to register cats. The judge found the couple guilty on four total counts for putting out food and water for feral cats in areas around Augusta.

If caught breaking another city ordinance, Ray and Sue Jones could face jail time, their attorney says.

"If they for example went out and violated another ordinance, such as if they went out and the police found them feeding cats and they were charged with that, the court can find that as a violation of their probation and order them to jail," Johnson says.

According to testimony from an animal control officer, Sue told him she was catching the cats, getting them fixed outside the city and then returning them to Augusta.

This isn't the first time Sue Jones has been in trouble for helping cats. Her attorney says the city cited her in 2015 after she put boxes outside her business to shelter cats.