SHEFFIELD LAKE, Ohio -- A Sheffield Lake resident is fighting a city law that only allows four cats per home.

Adult Protective Services first notified Sheffield Lake police about a strong odor and possible unhealthy conditions in a home.

A prosecutor investigated and said five cats would break the law – and there were dozens more than that.

The home in question contains somewhere between 60 and 90 cats. In the middle of them is 77-year-old Victoria Wilson.

Wilson spends $500 a month on cat food. Two home health aides help her care for all the animals, and Wilson wants to keep them all.

"It's like your children. How do you say, 'OK, you can't have more than four kids?'" Wilson said.

The problem is, her collection of cats breaks the law, according to a Sheffield Lake ordinance passed several years ago.

Law Director David Graves said unless Wilson gets rid of most of her cats, she will have to pay a fine of $150 a day.

"This ordinance need to be enforced as it is written. You can't make an exception for anybody. The law stands for everybody, not just a couple of people," said City Councilman Eric Elliott.

Wilson said she breeds some of the cats and has asked Sheffield Lake for an exception to the law.

If she loses, Wilson said she will leave the house she has lived in for 50 years and will take her cats with her.

"They're forcing me to move. I'm looking for property where I can have them," she said.

Sheffield Lake will not fine Wilson for at least a week. Next Thursday, council members will meet to talk about all of the cats, and then make a recommendation on whether the law should stand as it is or be changed.