Venting - have you ever..?

Hello All,

I just read a thread in Caring for Strays & Ferals about a Utah MP trying to pass a law allowing the shooting, decapitation, clubbing or bow-hunting of feral/stray cats, dogs, pigeons and doves.
I'm Australian so unfortunately, I can't put my name on the petition but if you want to, you can do so here (thanks LDG): http://animals.change.org/petitions/..._feral_animals

It got my blood boiling so I thought I could share a couple of stories.

I remember a news story in rural southern Australia about a man who had filled his house with cat pelts. He had them all over his walls like trophies and I was really appalled. When interviewed whether or not he was only shooting ferals, he said that he was going to shoot any cat that got onto his property (large farm/scrub land), and dodged questions about cats that were wearing collars/ID etc, or if he was taking any precautions in making sure he wasn't killing pets (not that killing ferals is a good thing anyway!).
I don't remember what happened but I hope he got what he deserved. That happened a few years ago. After typing this I tried to find the story in news archives but nothing is coming up.

Another, slightly more recent personal experience was when I was going to the gun & archery shop (the only one around here - it's illegal to keep guns without licences, and there are certain guns that only the military & police are allowed to use/own - you can't buy bullets anywhere without a buttload of paperwork) to look at bows and arrows as I was interested in starting target archery at the range in my town (I still haven't got around to it, bows are expensive).
There was a man talking to the proprietor over the counter about what's best to get rid of a cat that kept coming into his yard. He even said that it was his next door neighbour's cat and that he was thinking of using pellet-shots/BB gun but the shop keeper said you need something bigger or the cat will just be sore. In order to kill it he would need a proper shotgun round or whatever he said. I was so infuriated I left the store straight away and I tell people about the guy all the time. I didn't say anything to him because I was afraid that the customer would get violent with me and I'm a bit of a pansy when it comes to that stuff.
I mean, if you're so annoyed by the cat getting in your yard, TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBOUR! Don't just kill the animal because it irks you. I can't believe the owner gives that kind of advice to customers. Scum of the Earth.

I've had my vent. I wish all cats & kittens the best in their lives, whether stray, domestic, wild, feral or still waiting for the right family to take them home and love them. I hope that people can realise there are better ways to deal with problems and that we can live in a world where animals are respected, no matter the cost or inconvenience.

You know....

I am sure I will hang for saying this....but I kind of understand where the guys are coming from..

I owned a house in a urban area of Michigan, and my neighbor had 3 cats. Un neutered, and let them roam free. One of them was NASTY and would growl when you came near it.

This cat would go under my house, and spray everywhere. I dint know where it got in, but at least once a month it would spray. My house was totally reaking of cat pee, and I didn't have a cat! We would tell the neighbor to keep the cat inside, they didn't. In fact they told us ' your house should be more secure so they cant get under it'. We called the humane society, and they would set traps, but never cought it, and the neighbors lied to them, saying they kept it inside. We had 200$ in bills for this spray my husband had to use under the house every month. He had
to saturate the floor boards with it to get rid of the cat pee smell inside the house. I was 7
months pregnant, and could barely be in my house. The owners refused to pay or help.

One night, middle of winter, I woke up to a loud growling and hissing noise.
This cat busted open a heating vent, and was at my floor vent growling and hissing at us. My
husband went to the neighbors house, and banged on the door. The neighbor said 'what am I supposed to do about it?'. He said fine, I'll deal with it myself.

He ended up putting rat poison under our house to deal with it. We talked with the animal control
man (who we were now on a first name basis with at this point) and he said 'do what you gotta do, as long as it's under your house'.

The growling at us and peeing lasted another month and then stopped...

After months of being harassed by this cat, and now it's growling at my family
while we sleep in my vents, and no help from anyone I fully supported his
choice.

So I can understand where people come from wanting to handle the situation any way they can.
I think, if you want your cats safe from the dangers of the world...and from those who the cat may 'bother' then the cat should stay inside. I know I am still irritated seeing other people cats poop and pee in my yard. I don't let my dog poop in others yards, and a cat is no different.

Now shooting them with an arrow or whatnot is a little much, but the cat owners can't put all the blame on the property owners for wanting to protect their home and property (a little can can cause a LOT of damage, 2k in our case... Not counting mental anguish) especially if all other options have been exhausted.

Originally Posted by Therockhugger

I think, if you want your cats safe from the dangers of the world...and from those who the cat may 'bother' then the cat should stay inside.

Click to expand...

I agree, of course I wouldn't agree with shooting but can understand not wanting the neighbourhood cats in his yard, using it as a toilet, killing wildlife and possibly fighting other cats.

I can't understand why cat owners think it's their right to turn the pet loose on the neighbourhood. Dogs don't run free so why should cats.

Originally Posted by Therockhugger

You know....

I am sure I will hang for saying this....but I kind of understand where the guys are coming from..

I owned a house in a urban area of Michigan, and my neighbor had 3 cats. Un neutered, and let them roam free. One of them was NASTY and would growl when you came near it.

This cat would go under my house, and spray everywhere. I dint know where it got in, but at least once a month it would spray. My house was totally reaking of cat pee, and I didn't have a cat! We would tell the neighbor to keep the cat inside, they didn't. In fact they told us ' your house should be more secure so they cant get under it'. We called the humane society, and they would set traps, but never cought it, and the neighbors lied to them, saying they kept it inside. We had 200$ in bills for this spray my husband had to use under the house every month. He had
to saturate the floor boards with it to get rid of the cat pee smell inside the house. I was 7
months pregnant, and could barely be in my house. The owners refused to pay or help.

One night, middle of winter, I woke up to a loud growling and hissing noise.
This cat busted open a heating vent, and was at my floor vent growling and hissing at us. My
husband went to the neighbors house, and banged on the door. The neighbor said 'what am I supposed to do about it?'. He said fine, I'll deal with it myself.

He ended up putting rat poison under our house to deal with it. We talked with the animal control
man (who we were now on a first name basis with at this point) and he said 'do what you gotta do, as long as it's under your house'.

The growling at us and peeing lasted another month and then stopped...

After months of being harassed by this cat, and now it's growling at my family
while we sleep in my vents, and no help from anyone I fully supported his
choice.

So I can understand where people come from wanting to handle the situation any way they can.
I think, if you want your cats safe from the dangers of the world...and from those who the cat may 'bother' then the cat should stay inside. I know I am still irritated seeing other people cats poop and pee in my yard. I don't let my dog poop in others yards, and a cat is no different.

Now shooting them with an arrow or whatnot is a little much, but the cat owners can't put all the blame on the property owners for wanting to protect their home and property (a little can can cause a LOT of damage, 2k in our case... Not counting mental anguish) especially if all other options have been exhausted.

Click to expand...

To be honest I would do the same thing, the cat was under your house destroying it. It's not like you just spread it everywhere willy nilly, you put it under your house, and as animal control said that is legal and you gotta do what you gotta do. You can't have a cat, especially one you don't even own destroy your house. The neighbor obviously didn't care.

Taryn

Many non-Americans (and Americans, for that matter) have a hard time figuring out why we encourage keeping "housecats" in the house.

There are the obvious reasons, such as protecting them from other predators and cars and such.

And then there's the reduction in their exposure to disease and parasites.

But the two best reasons are not so obvious.

1. The domestic cat has no niche in the ecology. It has wreaked havoc on songbird populations all over the world, wiped out small mammals, and forced other predators out of their territories or into extinction.

2. Once the cat leaves your property, it behaves like a wild animal, going wherever it pleases without regard to property lines, eating opportunistically whatever it finds, and being a general nuisance, encouraging others to treat it as a pest.

In our town (and many others) prohibit cats (and dogs) from running free off your own property. Any such animals are subject to animal control.

This is definitely a case of bad owners who have no regard for other people's property. It's not the animals' faults but it's a shame that the cats will be punished for their owners' lack of control. That man with the cat pelts is also an extreme case of lack of control.

Definitely agree with you DemstarAus, that the people should speak with their neighbors before they start shooting and maiming animals.

But when they are left with no choice like therockhugger... what can you do? That neighbor did not care about the property damage and he did not take responsibility for his actions.

In other news, there is a new law in New York City that will penalize people for having their dogs tied up outside for more than three hours in a twelve hour span.

I love this idea because I've seen way too many episodes of animal neglect and cruelty on "Animal Cops" of dogs being left without food or water in bad elements.

"Owners of animals that are injured while tied up would first receive a $250 fine or a written warning if dogs are unharmed. If owners violate the law again within a year, they will be slapped with fines of up to $500 or hauled off to jail for up to three months."

Here is a link to the article for those that are interested: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_810851.html

I guess there are situations where drastic measures must be taken, it's unfortunate that you could not get more support from the council or authorities with the neighbour's cat. I agree that it's shameful of the neighbour to lie about the situation, and ultimately the cat, really not knowing any better, had to pay the price, when the carelessness of the owner was the cause of all of yours and the cat's anguish.
I wonder what would happen here if that same situation came about? I don't know if the authorities would be more strict or what. I can only imagine it would be an ugly game of trying to prove that the cat was there, and that it was his cat. I dunno... I can't really say.

I took photos of the cat under my house, and then took photos of the same cat in their house behind the screen door while they were away (they were heavy smokers and left the front door open, and screen/glass door closed).

They still didn't fine the owners. And we laid 6 or 7 traps but always cought possums, and other critters...never the cat.

We ended up moving because of the crappy neighborhood and left it at that. I pity the people who purchased that house though, because I am sure they have new cats to let terrorize the neighborhood.

Yeah, it sucks all around. I hate people who won't take care of their pets.

I am the caretaker for 5(well 4 are 'mine' the other prefers to hang out at the neighbor's) feral cats and I make sure as best as I can to make sure they don't destroy others property and if they do I am certainly more than willing to pay for any damage they cause and they aren't even really 'my' cats. They decided a neighbor's(other neighbor) planter was a litterbox. She didn't care she just didn't plant anything in that particular pot.

Mine are all spayed or neutered and everyone in the neighborhood sees them around and they don't care, the cats go about their regular feral lives and don't bother anyone or destroy anything(they want nothing to do with most people and avoid dogs, they occasionally antagonize Mitzi's dogs but we both know they, the cats and the dogs, like the game and neither side is going to get hurt.) If I had a problem cat I would try to find a rescue to take them(if for some reason I was unable to bring that cat inside) or depending on the cat just make them indoors. If both failed or the issue wasn't something that relocation would cure or was a serious thing then the cat would be crossing the bridge with the help of my vet.

Like I said these are not 'my' cats but they are my responsibility. I'd hate for one of them to be poisoned but if they were doing what that cat did to you I would have no one else to blame but myself. This wasn't about the cat being on your property this was about the cat being under your house and destroying it. As I said before I don't blame you and I could see doing the same thing if I was in the same position.

Well I am very relieved people understand. I was expecting a lynch mob lol.

I like cats, I have two (one stray I just brought in). But I just have no tolerance for letting animals (cats, dogs, ferrets, parakeets, you name it) run rampant on my property and destroy is. I work hard keeping my yard beautiful, and clean for my girls to play, and it is extremely disrespectful to let a pet pee poop or dig on someone elses property.

Sadly, there are alot of owners out there who don't see it as a problem and don't care what damage their pet does, and that gives the 'good' cats and cat owners a bad rap.