France’s Most Wanted Cat: Charged with Trespassing

A French woman has been fined more than $1,000 after her cat, named Remi, was found “guilty” of trespassing into her neighbor’s garden — leaving paw prints, urinating on a duvet, and defecating on the property.

A court in the southern town of Agde ordered the cat’s owner, 64-year-old teacher Dominique Valdes, to pay $1,450 in fines and legal costs, with an additional $35 penalty for each time the feline crosses the fence again.

Following accusations that Remi had “reoffended,” Valdes is now facing a second trial and an even higher penalty of $2,300.

She says the ordeal has caused her severe emotional distress, insomnia, and forced her into psychotherapy.

The case has shocked the public and sparked a broader debate about pet ownership and personal responsibility, with local residents defending the cat and calling the lawsuit “absurd.”

France’s leading animal welfare organization, the Société Protectrice des Animaux (SPA), warned that such rulings could discourage people from adopting pets, arguing that domestic cats naturally roam and cannot be held to human standards of property boundaries.