TEXAS (WITI) -- A 76-year-old man in Texas is locked up for feeding stray cats. It's something that's been going on for the past decade.



The man claims "God told him to keep feeding the cats."



But the feedings landed him several citations and a $900 fine, which he refused to pay.



The man opted to go to jail for 9 days rather than pay up.



While he was in jail, some of the cats' crawl spaces were boarded up, and the man says he hasn't seen the cats since he was released.



"When we feed these animals in stray-type situations, not only are we promoting those populations of cats and dogs, but we're attracting skunks and raccoons and possums and all the other critters that come with that," said Gainsesville Mayor, Jim Goldsworthy.



The Texas man's defiance caught the attention of an animal rights group that has hired a law firm to write a whole new stray animal code.