Indiana Police Department Asks For Cat Food Instead Of Cash For Parking Tickets

MUNCIE, IN — After officers in Indiana visited a local animal shelter, the Muncie Police Department set up a charity drive that allowed the public to pay parking tickets with cat food, litter, and other supplies instead of cash.

The program ran from July 15 to 19 and benefitted the Muncie Animal Care and Services Shelter. The shelter had been running low on necessities to care for 350 cats and kittens.

In a video explaining the offer, Officer Jamie Brown said, “If you have a $25 parking ticket, you can bring up to $25 worth of cat food or litter to the Clerk's Office, and you can get your parking ticket to go away with the exchange of the donation.”

The public reportedly responded with great generosity. After sharing a photo of the many donations that came in, the Muncie PD stated, “This room was almost empty before we started! Most of the folks that donated didn't even have parking tickets.”

Ashley Honeycutt, manager of the animal shelter, told a reporter, “I don't know if the police department plans on doing this again, but we're incredibly grateful to them and the community. Their response was overwhelming.”

Honeycutt added that late summer gets especially tough for animal charities, as cat birthrates tend to climb at this time of year. She said, “We are not the only shelter going through this right now. It's kitten season, and we encourage everyone to help their local shelter out."

Read more: WRTV, MSN