As Hurricane Florence barreled toward the Carolina coast, Tammie Hedges took action to protect pets that might have otherwise been caught in the storm – a decision that led to her arrest.

Hedges, a resident of Wayne County, North Carolina, was taken into custody Friday after providing care to more than two dozen animals – 17 cats and 10 dogs – for owners who had to evacuate before the storm hit.

This is from Dalvin Brown, “Saving pets without a permit: Good Samaritan arrested after helping animals survive Florence,” USA Today, September 23, 2018.

The article continues:

On Monday, after Florence passed, Hedges got a call from Wayne County Animal Control regarding the animals.

“He basically told me, ‘You can voluntarily hand over the animals, or I can go get a warrant,’ ” Hedges said.

She willingly surrendered the animals.

“A few days later they called me in for questioning and yesterday they arrested me,” Hedges said.

The charges included 12 counts of practicing medicine without a veterinary license.

What are the charges? The article states:

“1 count of administering amoxicillin to Big Momma, 1 count of administering Tramadol to Big Momma, 3 counts of administering amoxicillin to a white Siamese cat, 3 counts of administering a topical antibiotic ointment (triple antibiotic from Dollar Tree) to a white Siamese cat, 3 counts of administering amoxicillin to a cat known as Sweet Pea, 1 count of administering amoxicillin to an unnamed black kitten, and 1 count of solicitation to commit a crime,” the non-profit writes.

Later:

“If they can’t find the owners, the pets went from a safe place to a kill shelter,” Hedges said.

Because, you know, killing them is so much better for them than administering drugs without a license.

I don’t know whether the relevant Wayne County Animal Control person hates animals—probably not—but what I think likely is that the Wayne County Animal Control person hates competition.