I live in a small town surrounded by 2 busy roads. When I first moved here, I noticed stray cats, and it was not unusual to quite frequently find a dead cat on or near the road. I began feeding them in an effort to keep them away from the roads. I soon realized how quickly a few turned into many. I began a TNR program 2 years ago and have been successful in fixing approximately 50 cats. Not all of these cats are ones I care for. My immediate colony is about 20 to which I provide food and fresh water source, as well as shelter on my mud porch. I have been increasingly uneasy about the folks in my town. I know my passion for these poor cats is not felt across the board, and I am getting worried that I could at some point face trouble for caring for these little guys. I've had the police at my home once responding to a complaint. I informed him I was in a TNR program and was attempting to control the problem in our town. Nothing came of this, but I feel like I am being watched. I am getting more and more nervous that someone is going to create a situation whereby I could be held legally responsible for something I have no control over i.e a cat bite, or traffic accident etc. The colony stays pretty much on my deck, and comes into my mudporch where I have provided beds and shelter from the elements, so they are deemed "my cats" by the neighbors. Does anyone else have a similar situation? Am I just being paranoid, or should I heed this uneasiness? Are there cases where law suits have been filed against colony caretakers? Any advice would be appreciated.
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Feral community
- Thread starter brubst00
- Start Date
First, thank you for taking care of all the cats.
Just as we shouldn't give medical advice about cats, so I can only give what I think, feel.
I am not an attorney, though I have been a legal secretary for 30+ years, mainly boring type of law like mergers and acquisitions, commercial real estate. But my legal radar is a bit more paranoid than most peoples, perhaps.
Regarding the legal issue: you need to check the statutes/laws in your town, city, county, state. (Sometimes there is language in the laws in the smaller jurisdictions that says, basically, more stringent laws supersede the less stringent ones. It might be under the heading Conflicts of Laws or some such language.) In particular read carefully the section(s) that deal with stray/feral cats. Some jurisdictions say, if you feed stray/feral/wild cats, you are legally responsible for them, and that includes bites. Others say, not so; still other laws, don't say anything. Again, the laws vary widely among states/cities. Enforcement of some of the laws (e.g., where I live, it is illegal to let roam an unneutered male) is practically speaking, impossible.
Also what you might run into is a law stating you can only have "x" number of cats (to prevent a hoarding situation, among other issues). A friend and I were socializing in her home five cats at one time. Technically we were violating the law because there was a restriction on the number of cats (three I believe). Enforcement is likely to be nill: unless as you have run into, someone complains.
What I would do is: Educate. Educate. Educate. Pass around flyers (you can get some from Alley Cat Allies) that inform your neighbors about TNRing and the vacuum effect. I would also contact proactively Animal Control and let them know you are TNR. It would help if you could associate yourself with a local/national TNR / feral cat program, such as Alley Cat Allies or P.A.W.S.
Good luck!
Just as we shouldn't give medical advice about cats, so I can only give what I think, feel.
I am not an attorney, though I have been a legal secretary for 30+ years, mainly boring type of law like mergers and acquisitions, commercial real estate. But my legal radar is a bit more paranoid than most peoples, perhaps.
Regarding the legal issue: you need to check the statutes/laws in your town, city, county, state. (Sometimes there is language in the laws in the smaller jurisdictions that says, basically, more stringent laws supersede the less stringent ones. It might be under the heading Conflicts of Laws or some such language.) In particular read carefully the section(s) that deal with stray/feral cats. Some jurisdictions say, if you feed stray/feral/wild cats, you are legally responsible for them, and that includes bites. Others say, not so; still other laws, don't say anything. Again, the laws vary widely among states/cities. Enforcement of some of the laws (e.g., where I live, it is illegal to let roam an unneutered male) is practically speaking, impossible.
Also what you might run into is a law stating you can only have "x" number of cats (to prevent a hoarding situation, among other issues). A friend and I were socializing in her home five cats at one time. Technically we were violating the law because there was a restriction on the number of cats (three I believe). Enforcement is likely to be nill: unless as you have run into, someone complains.
What I would do is: Educate. Educate. Educate. Pass around flyers (you can get some from Alley Cat Allies) that inform your neighbors about TNRing and the vacuum effect. I would also contact proactively Animal Control and let them know you are TNR. It would help if you could associate yourself with a local/national TNR / feral cat program, such as Alley Cat Allies or P.A.W.S.
Good luck!
