Lewis

Lewis is the name of a cat from Fairfield, Connecticut, who garnered mass media attention for being placed under house arrest in March 2006. At the time of his arrest Lewis was five years old, placing his birthdate between the years 2000 and 2001. Background Lewis is a polydactyl, domestic long-haired cat. Several of Fairfield's Sunset Circle residents, along with an Avon saleswoman, have accused the cat of attacking them. There were witnesses to some of the incidents who stated the attacks were unprovoked. Janet Kettman of Sunset Circle who was allegedly attacked twice by the cat even picked Lewis out of a line-up of black and white cats. Animal Control Officer Rachel Solveira placed a restraining order on Lewis. It was the first time such an action was taken against a cat in the United States. Lewis was ordered to be placed under house arrest, and his owner tried medicating Lewis with Prozac but could not contain the cat in the house. Ruth Cisero, Lewis's owner, was arrested and charged with failure to comply with a restraint order which the prosecuting attorney later changed to reckless endangerment. Cisero appeared in Bridgeport Superior Court at the end of April 2006. Cisero could have agreed to probation on the condition that Lewis be euthanized, a special probation offer with conditions made at the insistence of one woman that Lewis allegedly attacked on February 20. In a letter to prosecutors, she said she would only agree to probation for Cisero if the cat were put to death. Cisero instead opted to go to trial to try to preserve Lewis' life. Cisero appeared in court on May 23, 2006, on a second degree reckless endangerment charge.