Case Related to Feeding of Stray Cats on Wheeling Island Lingers

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WHEELING - A case involving the feeding of feral cats on Wheeling Island - stemming from an incident that stirred controversy in the community last year - is still lingering in Ohio County Magistrate Court.

A hearing in the case against Arvindbha Narsinbhai Patel, whose address is listed in St. Clairsville, was scheduled to take place before Ohio County Magistrate Tom Howard on Monday, but the defendant reportedly failed to appear.

Patel, 81, had been representing himself in the case in which he faces a total of eight misdemeanor counts of unlawful disposal of litter. The defendant last fall had filed a motion to continue a pre-trial hearing due to health reasons.

According to the criminal complaint filed in June of last year, Patel was accused of placing litter on the ground on different dates and at different locations on Wheeling Island. Witnesses said Patel placed numerous plates of pet food out for stray cats, leaving the plates and plastic cuttings from pet food bags on the ground. This was witnessed and filmed by a complainant, according to the court filings.

This activity reportedly took place in the alley off of Maryland Street, on Front Street under the Fort Henry Bridge, on Zane Street and at the Youth Services System building on Wheeling Island.

Last September during a bond revocation hearing, Howard revoked Patel’s bond for returning to Wheeling Island and set a higher bond. Part of the holding bond agreement signed by Patel in this case prohibited him from returning to Wheeling Island. Patel reportedly admitted to being on Wheeling Island taking pictures he presented to the court of other areas where there was litter. The magistrate also found Patel in contempt of court during that hearing last year and accused him of "being argumentative."

There was no new disposition to the case following Patel’s no-show in court on Monday.

According to Ohio County Prosecutor Shawn Turak, a capias is typically not issued for a defendant who fails to appear for a hearing in a misdemeanor case.

Patel is being charged with littering because under the current city code, this is the most appropriate charge available for a situation like this, the prosecutor noted, indicating that the city codes that address matters such as this lack teeth to go after offenders.

It was not the first time Patel was accused of feeding wild animals. In 2023, he was accused of feeding raccoons in the Renaissance Way neighborhood of Bethlehem. In June of 2023, a temporary restraining order was issued against Patel, forbidding him from feeding wild animals in that neighborhood.

Earlier last year in the midst of complaints over the feeding of cats on Wheeling Island, members of Wheeling City Council had sought guidance from the prosecutor’s office and the health department in an attempt to address the issue. An ordinance amending and reenacting the city code as it related to feeding of "feral, stray or undomesticated cats" was introduced and was up for a second reading and public hearing.

However city leaders faced a public backlash over the ordinance from residents who viewed it as inhumane to prohibit feeding stray cats. Language in the proposed amendment did just that and imposed enhanced penalties in the form of steeper fines for repeat offenders.

In April of last year, Wheeling City Council moved to table the ordinance regarding the feeding of stray cats. Officials indicated that they planned to come back with a new amendment with different language to address the issue. When the tabled ordinance made it back to the floor with the same language, no council members moved for its adoption. The legislation died as a result of a lack of a motion and was removed from the agenda. Since then, no new legislation regarding this matter has been brought back to council for consideration.