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<\/p>\n“They put me in chains,” Louis Abbruzze said. “They locked my legs to my feet. What the hell is going on here? I was feeding animals. I didn’t kill somebody.”<\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A 77-year-old Jacksonville warehouse owner says a dispute over the cats he has cared for over the past 16 years ended with his arrest on a misdemeanor wildlife feeding charge.<\/p>\n
Louis Abbruzze said he leaves his warehouse door cracked at night so seven cats can come inside to eat, sleep and get out of the weather.<\/p>\n
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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers arrested Abbruzze on Sept. 15, accusing him of feeding raccoons.<\/p>\n
Abbruzze denies intentionally feeding raccoons, saying the food is intended for the cats he considers family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese cats are not just cats,\u201d Abbruzze said. \u201cThey\u2019re my children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abbruzze said he and his wife began caring for cats around their warehouse after losing their only son in 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cats were a cure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said the couple trapped the cats, got them vaccinated and sterilized, and found homes for many of them. Seven cats remain at the warehouse on Youngerman Court, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what kept my wife and I going,\u201d Abbruzze said. \u201cWe found something that made us human again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abbruzze said the dispute began about a year and a half ago, after the property\u2019s homeowners association hired new management. He said the HOA told him he needed to close the door or face fines and possible legal action.<\/p>\n
First Coast News contacted the HOA last week and this week for comment but had not received a response as of publication.<\/p>\n
Abbruzze said FWC previously warned him about leaving food outside after officers raised concerns about raccoons.<\/p>\n
He said he believed he was following FWC guidance by feeding the cats and removing the food if raccoons appeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started doing exactly what the FWC said,\u201d Abbruzze said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a statement, FWC said officers were dispatched to the commercial property after complaints that a tenant was feeding raccoons. The agency said Abbruzze had already been cited for providing raccoons with food and access to his unit. FWC said feeding raccoons is illegal in Florida.<\/p>\n
Abbruzze said officers returned Sept. 15 and arrested him on a misdemeanor charge of feeding wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says, \u2018Now turn around and put out your hands,\u2019\u201d Abbruzze said. \u201cCuffed me. Put my cuffs on right there. I can\u2019t walk. I\u2019ve got a broken ankle. I\u2019m walking with a cane.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abbruzze said he was treated \u201cas a common criminal\u201d during the arrest and detention.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m not. They put me in chains. They locked my legs to my feet. What the hell is going on here? I was feeding animals. I didn’t kill somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n
He disputes FWC\u2019s account and said he does not intend to feed raccoons.<\/p>\n
Abbruzze said he expects to return to court next week with his attorney.<\/p>\n
The FWC says there are prohibitions around feeding certain species of wildlife. You can find more here<\/a>. There is also information about securing attractants and coexisting with wildlife. A link to the rule is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“They put me in chains,” Louis Abbruzze said. “They locked my legs to my feet. What the hell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-413744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}