Fight over feeding feral cats in Deltona

DELTONA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Julie Tirado is a cat lover. She looks after ten colonies of feral cats in Deltona. 

She says recently she and her group of friends have been misunderstood, and just last week, she says her friend was attacked while helping feed cats at a wooded lot on Lombardy Drive in Deltona.

FOX 35 News obtained video of the scene. You don't see the scuffle, but you can hear women yelling and you see a foot go up in the air as a woman lands on the ground. It was Tirado's friend who just had back surgery.  She is ok. 

The woman who's accused of pushing Tirado's friend lives in the neighborhood, and according to deputies, she's mad the cats are around at all.  She's now facing misdemeanor battery charges. 

Tirado says she wants the feral cats off the streets as well, but it takes time and money. She is part of a trap and release program recognized by the City of Deltona that spays and neuters cats, micro chips them and tries to get them adopted. She spends thousands of dollars of her own money. 

While they wait for the cats to find permanent homes indoors, they feed them in places like this all around Deltona.  Tirado says she will not stop helping the cats regardless of the risk.