LAKELAND, Fla., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A Florida woman who killed her neighbor's cat says she opened fire to protect her pit bull, her sister and herself.

Polly Boykin of Lakeland faces charges of animal cruelty and firing a gun in public, The Lakeland Ledger reports. Judy Steele was ticketed for not having proof her cat had been vaccinated and allowing the animal to roam loose.


Police said that Skeeter, Steele's cat, strayed into Boykin's yard Tuesday morning. The pit bull, named Zeva, went after the cat and the two animals ended up in another yard under a house trailer.

When Brenda Barley, Boykin's sister, tried to get the cat out, the animal went after both of them. Boykin, who now has an infected hand, said she decided to get her .32-caliber handgun because she wanted to protect others.

"I was worried about the cat coming out and hurting someone else," she said.

Steele blames Boykin.

"What happened with that lady was uncalled for," she said. "She wasn't even in her yard when she shot the cat. That cat was just trying to get away from the dog."