A 78-year-old Madison woman was fined more than $1,000 Monday after admitting she fed rat poison to two of her neighbor's cats in May 2005.

Myrtle Maly pled no contest to two misdemeanor counts of intentionally giving poison to an animal. A Dane County prosecutor dismissed two additional felony charges of mistreatment of animals causing death.

According to court documents, the cats' owner, Robert Yu, contacted Madison Police to report suspicions that his neighbor had poisoned his cats, Tangerine and Tiger. The cats had suddenly become ill and died, and necropsy reports from the University of Wisconsin Veterinary School showed findings that were "consistent with acute antifreeze poisoning."

Maly, who lives near Yu on the 1800 block of Spaight Street, had previously complained to animal control about the animals coming into her yard.

When questioned by the MPD, Maly said she had purchased a can of cat food and "dumped" some d-Con rat poison into it. Maly then placed the poisoned cat food in her yard because the cats usually went there at night.

Maly said she did not expect the cats to die, although the poison she used reportedly read "Caution: May be harmful or fatal if swallowed. Keep away from humans, domestic animals and pets."

"I just probably thought they'd get sick," Maly said, according to court documents. "I don't know how that stuff works."

Yu said the slow death of the cats was "very difficult for him and his children to watch." When police asked Maly how she felt about killing the cats, she expressed "mixed emotions," saying, "I have a good feeling, because the birds are happy now."

Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard, whose office prosecuted Maly, said the felony charges were dismissed in order to reach a settlement.

"Very few cases in this building go to trial, for all kinds of reasons," Blanchard said. "Given her age and lack of criminal history, this was not a case where we were going to be seeking confinement."