<div><p>Bill Richardson, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran spent seventeen years of his life caring for cats in his neighbourhood. The 87-year-old animal lover provided stray cats with food, shelter and love. After all, they were the only family he has.</p><p>Unfortunately, not everyone who lived in Berlin Township, New Jersey was on board with Bill's empathy towards the cats.</p><p>After almost two decades of looking after stray cats, he was forced out of his home because he refused to stop feeding the felines. His lack of compliance with the obscure demand resulted in him being prosecuted for "having an unlicensed cat."</p><p>Lucy Noland of Fox 29 came to Bill's rescue when she shared his story in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LucyNoland/videos/1261937123888542/">Facebook post</a>. She acknowledged everything Bill has done for the well-being of the cats and the lengths he'd go to care for them. "If it was a choice between food for his kitties or himself, the cats won out every time," she wrote.</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/980x-291.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/980x-291_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/980x-291_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/980x-291_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/980x-291_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/980x-291_GH_content_950px.jpg 950w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>Lucy Noland</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>"He didn't even have a pair of pants to wear to court (you know, to answer to the charges of having that unlicensed cat and, for good measure, the Township of Berlin, New Jersey threw in the charge of "maintaining a nuisance"-- its way of prosecuting him for his outrageous deed of kitty feeding)," she added. </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Lucky for Bill, people came to his support once they learned about his story and the injustice he was facing. Theresa Grabowski volunteered her services as an attorney. Funds were set up by rescue groups, animal hospitals and radio stations to help the senior and his cats.</p><p>An Amazon Wish List was started by Rescue Dogs Rock Animal Rescue so Bill could purchase items for his new place that he couldn't afford otherwise. </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>The township still refused to allow Bill's cats stay so volunteers helped move the kitties to a new Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program by Bill's new apartment in Barrington, New Jersey.</p><div><amp-facebook data-href="https://www.facebook.com/LucyNoland/videos/1261937123888542" layout="responsive" height="600" width="640"></amp-facebook></div><p>Noland updated her post expressing gratitude for the overwhelming support that Bill and his cat family received, "I could not ask for a better ending. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. God bless you." she wrote. </p><p>Faith in humanity restored! If you'd like to help Bill's kitties, you can browse and purchase items from the Amazon Wish List <a href="http://amzn.to/2mVEocl">here</a>. </p><p></p></div>