One early morning last year Susan Hendrix of Ceres found her pet cat trapped in a cage set in the next-door neighbor’s yard. It was dark and she couldn’t see well to open the cage door so she took it to her house. After freeing the cat, the next day she returned the cage to the neighbor’s driveway.

“It was dark, it was night time, I was nervous and I just carried the cage home with me because I wanted to get the cat out,” said Hendrix. “It was to me vital. I love my cats.”

Incredulously, since September she’s faced misdemeanor charges of petty theft.

Hendrix said she and her neighbor have never gotten along well, which may have been the reason the neighbors called Ceres Police despite the cage being voluntarily returned to her driveway the next day.

“I know they saw it,” said Hendrix, “because I heard her talk to her husband and say, ‘Okay, the cage is there. She didn’t break it or anything,’ is what I heard him say.”

About a month later Hendrix received a notification in the mail saying her neighbor reported to Ceres Police that she stole the cage. A case was filed in the Stanislaus County Superior Court on Sept. 19, 2025. Since then, the Hoyle Court neighbor dropped charges against Hendrix but not the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s office.

“I was just kind of dumbfounded,” said Hendrix. “I couldn’t believe it but I’ve been to court over this situation that I feel I didn’t commit any crime intentionally. I didn’t premeditate it to make money. I didn’t want her cage in any way, shape or form. I was just retrieving my cat.”

Despite the neighbor agreeing to drop charges, the DA isn’t.

Hendrix alleges that her neighbors were going to take her cat and dump it some place, suggesting Fox Grove Fishing Access which has been a mecca for cat dumping. 

Hendrix got a public defender and has to be in court a fourth time after she proves that she completed a court mandated eight-hour class at her cost. It’s part of a deal cut by the DA’s office to avoid a jury trial, which the public defender advised her to take.

“I didn’t feel very confident even though I didn’t break the law. I took the deal because they might find me guilty and if they do they can take me to jail.”

“I have to be under their supervision for six months. At any given time they can come into my house and search for stolen property. I didn’t do anything. I’m the victim here – I really am. It just infuriates me to no end to think that they’re going to cost my money which I don’t have a lot of anyway.”

Hendrix told the Courier that she wants the public to be aware that the same judicial handling can happen to anyone.