The Boulder man who goes by “Sheriff of Love” says his arrest, for allegedly neglecting his sickly 20-year-old cat, is a prime example of the sort of law enforcement “bullying” he has campaigned against.

When Toby Fernsler, 45, ran a write-in campaign against Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle in 2014, his platform, as his nickname suggests, was based on a promise to rule with love, not penalty.

He told the Camera shortly after his defeat — by a 99.8% margin — that under his regime, speed traps would be eliminated and sheriff’s deputies would not carry guns. Instead of fining dog owners for not curbing their pets, he’d pay transients to collect poop. People wanting to file noise complaints would be asked to kindly knock on their neighbors’ doors and ask them to keep it down.

“Restorative justice for conflicts, campsites for the homeless, mental health care that does not require filling out stacks of paperwork and free addiction treatment,” he said Thursday. “The Sheriff of Love is a man I’ve imagined — one who acts from great love and courage. I’m a real man, doing my best to live up to that dream.”

So, naturally, Fernsler wasn’t pleased when animal control showed up at his south Boulder home July 16 to inform him that his old, ailing cat, Elza, had been found crying under a car a few houses away. She was euthanized without his consent, he said.

Fernsler knew Elza was in bad shape; her weight was way down, her ribs and vertebrae showed and she had started to smell bad.

“I had sat down and had the conversation with her,” Fernsler said Thursday. “I said, ‘You’re too far gone. I’m going to end this.’ I think maybe Elza understood that, and that’s why she took off.”

The wife and daughter weren’t overly concerned about her disappearance, since Elza was an outdoor cat to begin with, and often spent long periods away from the home.

“We always had kind of a casual relationship,” Fernsler said, “where she would go stay at other people’s houses sometimes, and they would feed her.”

She had been missing for all of one day when animal control got a call from a man who lives about 50 yards from Fernsler.

Officer Taylor Barnes wrote in a police report that when he arrived on scene, he found Elza “skinny and crying,” emaciated down to about 4 pounds with a “dirty and matted” coat and a “right eye socket filled with live maggots.” Barnes placed the cat in a carrier and took her to Aplenglow Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center, where she was euthanized.

A necropsy performed at Colorado State University later ruled “this cat should have been taken to a veterinarian to be evaluated.” Police records also indicate that two months before her death, a veterinarian had spoken to Fernsler about “quality of life” and the option of euthanasia, which he declined.

After the euthanasia at Alpenglow, Barnes emailed Fernsler. “I have located your cat and would like to return her. Please call me,” he wrote. But, of course, Elza was in no state to be returned.

When officer and owner finally met face-to-face, Fernsler was issued a summons for cruelty to animals. “What a terrible ending to my cat’s life,” he told Barnes at the time.

“He sent me that email,” Fernsler said, “but when he showed up, he informed me that he was charging me with animal cruelty and that they had killed her and were saving her as evidence.”

Fernsler attended his arraignment but then didn’t show up for a status conference in court — “I had better things to do with my time,” he said — and at 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 16, he was arrested on a bench warrant for failure to appear.

“While walking (Fernsler) to our patrol vehicle,” Officer Ryan Bemis wrote in an arrest report, he “screamed that he was being kidnapped by armed gang members. …He also stated that we were Nazis and fascists.”

“On the one hand,” Fernsler added Thursday, “they’re arguing a legal matter on technical facts, but they’re also arguing that a person is required to euthanize a family member when they are decayed to a certain point. When do they start requiring you to put down your grandma?

“Elza was in bad shape, but this stuff is usually pretty ugly. It’s not a pretty sight when your body starts failing. We in the United States have an unhealthy relationship with death.”

Fernsler spent three hours in the same county jail he one day hopes to preside over as sheriff, and his wife bailed him out for $500. He is due back in court Friday.

Even if he’s ultimately convicted, his political dreams won’t be dashed; as long as you have never been convicted of a felony, you can run for Boulder County sheriff.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I’m running again.”

Alex Burness: 303-473-1389, burnessa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/alex_burness