On June 14, Brenda Goodwill received a summons to appear in Ellicott Town Court for violating the village’s code on harboring animals. Out of her Park View home, Goodwill has kept up to 17 cats — some of which she owns and the others she puts up for adoption.

“Cats are pretty much disregarded around here and around the world,” Goodwill told The Post-Journal. “If I hadn’t brought in (the feral cats), they’d probably live a miserable life. They wouldn’t make it out there.”

“I picked this house because there’s no traffic threat, since it’s at the end of the road, and I can let my cats roam a bit more,” she continued. “You can beat them, starve them, hoard them, and nobody seems to care, but I save them and suddenly there’s a problem.”

Goodwill, who works full-time when not rescuing cats, was told there was a complaint regarding the number of animals she was keeping inside her home. She was issued the summons for the code violation by LeRoy Belin, the Falconer dog control officer.

The Falconer resident believes Belin, who she said didn’t enter her home, looked over Facebook photos to estimate she had about 30 cats. Belin declined to comment when reached by phone Wednesday.

“All of the shelters are overcrowded, so where am I supposed to bring them?” she asked. “I have to find homes for my kittens.”

When she first appeared before Ellicott Town Justice Marilyn Gerace, Goodwill was advised to go to the Falconer Village Board to seek a special use permit. Village code allows two dogs and two cats per residence; Goodwill is hoping the village will allow her to keep two dogs and five cats, animals she personally owns.

“I don’t think I’m asking too much,” she said. “I want to at least keep my personal cats and not have to sell my house. … These cats are my life, they’re my babies. I could never give them up. I’ll stop getting more, if that’s what they want, but I don’t think I could ever give them up.”

Goodwill, who has put her home up for sale as a result of the conflict, went before the Village Board on July 8. She told the board she rescues cats, either from trapping or receiving them from the community, in order to get them spayed or neutered and eventually into new homes. While unlicensed to operate an adoption agency, Goodwill said she has the cats’ best interest in mind.

“There’s not enough homes,” she said. “I don’t want them to have to live in a shelter. I didn’t know there was an ordinance in the village, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought the house. I was dumbfounded when they told me the code. I left there crying.”

Goodwill returned to Ellicott Town Court on Tuesday to update Gerace. With 18 letters of support from neighbors and friends, Goodwill told the town justice she had received little support from Village Board members.

“They gave me no options,” Goodwill told Gerace. “They told me to get rid of the cats or sell my house. I think that’s sad.”

Messages left to board members were not returned Tuesday or Wednesday.

Gerace said based on a portion of the village code dealing with harboring animals, she was under the impression that permits could be issued under special circumstances.

“I guess I’m confused that they advised there was no option,” Gerace said in court. “The village of Falconer is going to have to come in here. We will have to schedule something.”

Inside the Town Court were about a dozen supporters of Goodwill. One was Denise Barber, who questioned why the village would want to “turn its back on someone trying to cut down on the feral cat population.” She noted that Goodwill pays to have the animals fixed and keeps her house clean.

“Doesn’t the village want this?” Barber asked outside the Town Court. “Do they want to lose a resident who is doing this service at no cost? Is that what they really want?”

Added Carolyn Fish, “Everything comes right out of her pocket.”

Goodwill is hoping that the village will reconsider once before Gerace.

“I’m hoping for some miracle,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of great people behind me. It’s never been about numbers for me, but I read these letters (of support) and I think, ‘Wow, I have done a lot,’ and it makes me happy to know all these babies are OK now. It’s very emotional for me.”