Cats. Grrrrrr!

[lenats31]

""I notice you are not UK, the law over here as far as I am aware does not hold owners responsible so would not get anywhere in a court?""

I´m not so sure about that. Even if there really is no law I think cat owners should keep in mind that others don´t choose to have their pet cat run around their private premises and make "surprices" for them.

[jmorgan]

lenats31 said:

""I notice you are not UK, the law over here as far as I am aware does not hold owners responsible so would not get anywhere in a court?""

I´m not so sure about that. Even if there really is no law I think cat owners should keep in mind that others don´t choose to have their pet cat run around their private premises and make "surprices" for them.

Tricky isn't it? I tend to have a holistic approach to this. If people have an issue with this then I can find many problems caused by the complainer, but that is not the answer. But, I do see your point, I till over patches in my garden that are used by my two. It is evidenced by the need to take the deposits to the tip on a fairly regular basis.

I have on occasion needed to keep a marauding moggy out of my garden, one was a real bully and bruiser. Water was the method and it soon learned to keep away.

[otolith]

lenats31 said:

""I notice you are not UK, the law over here as far as I am aware does not hold owners responsible so would not get anywhere in a court?""

I´m not so sure about that. Even if there really is no law I think cat owners should keep in mind that others don´t choose to have their pet cat run around their private premises and make "surprices" for them.

The legal situation is well established.

[Simpo Two]

lenats31 said:

Simpo Two said:

And of the cats that you catch that happen to belong to neighbours - do you let them go or take them to the local rescue centre as well?

Has the neighbour listend to you if your complaints about their cat if you go to this lenght?? I would say not.

About half of the dozen or so houses around me have cats; they are free to come and go as they please and everybody gets on fine. I have lived here for 20+ years and AFAIK nobody has ever complained about someone else's cat in their garden.

I don't suppose you thought of that harmonious possibility. Your idea of trapping domestic cats and carting them off is quite riduculous.

[lenats31]

jmorgan said:

I notice you are not UK, the law over here as far as I am aware does not hold owners responsible so would not get anywhere in a court? That raises the hackles of the cat haters.

I have checked, and you are right!

[whoami]

Simpo Two said:

Your idea of trapping domestic cats and carting them off is quite riduculous.

Asking for trouble.

[HereBeMonsters]

On the subject of whether they do cause damage or not - I love my cat, but I've had to start parking my Elise in a different spot as he was using it to jump from the front wing to a fence, leaving loads of little scratches behind. Polish won't get them, need to get a proper bodyshop on to it...

[lenats31]

Simpo Two said:

About half of the dozen or so houses around me have cats; they are free to come and go as they please and everybody gets on fine. I have lived here for 20+ years and AFAIK nobody has ever complained about someone else's cat in their garden.

I don't suppose you thought of that harmonious possibility. Your idea of trapping domestic cats and carting them off is quite riduculous.

That´s your neighbourhood, and thankfully mine is the same way, but that doesn´t mean it´s like that everywhere -else I´m afraid. As I wrote in my first post here, we did a run around to the neighbourghood asking how they felt about cats running free. No matter what, you can never count on that somebody who doesn´t like it will not move into the neighbourghood and stay. OP surely would not have accepted your cat on his private grounds. I´m sure he is not the only one who feels this way.

You did ask if I would catch the neighbourg´s cat. Personally I´m fine with having other people´s cat running around here. I can´t complain because mine are free to go too. But for OP, the situation is turned around. He does not like other people´s pets on his premises, but knowing that it is a neighbourg´s cat, he would know who owns it right! That means he can have a talk with the owners about this, and if that doesn´t help...... catch the cat. If he doesn´t know where it lives... catch it.

[otolith]

Harming someone else's cat is criminal damage. Trapping it and removing it would be considered theft (if there were intent to permanently deprive).

[bexVN]

There may be a language barrier here BUT it is just absolutely wrong wrong wrong to trap a healthy cat unless you are convinced it is a stray or in poor health.

My cats are all chipped however I'd be distraught if I had a phonecall telling me that my cat was in some rescue centre because someone trapped him/her!!

Added note, we recently discovered my 17yr olds chip was no longer working and I'm not sure how long for. We check chips at boosters but I don't vaccinate him anymore so it may not have worked for a couple yrs.

[Simpo Two]

lenats31 said:

That´s your neighbourhood, and thankfully mine is the same way, but that doesn´t mean it´s like that everywhere -else I´m afraid. As I wrote in my first post here, we did a run around to the neighbourghood asking how they felt about cats running free. No matter what, you can never count on that somebody who doesn´t like it will not move into the neighbourghood and stay. OP surely would not have accepted your cat on his private grounds. I´m sure he is not the only one who feels this way.

You did ask if I would catch the neighbourg´s cat. Personally I´m fine with having other people´s cat running around here. I can´t complain because mine are free to go too. But for OP, the situation is turned around. He does not like other people´s pets on his premises, but knowing that it is a neighbourg´s cat, he would know who owns it right! That means he can have a talk with the owners about this, and if that doesn´t help...... catch the cat. If he doesn´t know where it lives... catch it.

I'm afraid it still won't work. Some people think cats are like dogs, and walk on leads, and do what they are told, sit, beg, poo on command etc. You and I know that is not true. All cats are part wild, and have territory. I can't imagine anyone being so ignorant as to tell a neighbour to keep their cat indoors all the time, and if it was mine and they mistreated it or abducted/stole it, they'd find either the RSPCA or the police at their door.

We live in communities on a crowded planet, and a little compromise and understanding is required if we are not all to start fighting with each other. Life is complex enough already without bickering over a cat in a garden I think; indeed I suspect it is the stresses of modern living that make some people so tetchy to start with.

[lenats31]

Simpo Two said:

I'm afraid it still won't work. Some people think cats are like dogs, and walk on leads, and do what they are told, sit, beg, poo on command etc. You and I know that is not true. All cats are part wild, and have territory. I can't imagine anyone being so ignorant as to tell a neighbour to keep their cat indoors all the time, and if it was mine and they mistreated it or abducted/stole it, they'd find either the RSPCA or the police at their door.

We live in communities on a crowded planet, and a little compromise and understanding is required if we are not all to start fighting with each other. Life is complex enough already without bickering over a cat in a garden I think; indeed I suspect it is the stresses of modern living that make some people so tetchy to start with.

I can´t call the police in cases like this. With the laws where I am the police would show up on my doorstep and not the neighbourghs. There is a law that says: Your cat = Your responsability. Also if you cat makes unpleasant surprices on private grounds and the person can proove it was your cat that did it. You must cover the damages. Also you can catch the cat and take it to a resque centre.

I agree with you! Life is too short for complaining about other people´s cats. There are more important things to attend to IMO.

If you want a cat to remain indoor, then you should make an enviroment for them that statisfies their natural instincs and way of living - something only a few people know how to do.

[oldnbold]

We have several cats in our local area, and those of us that dont own one get realy pissed off continually having to clear up cat sh 1t. Last summer the guy across the road, a company director, having paid a fortune on landscaping and with a young kid finally had had enough.

He actually shot 2 of the neighbours cats with an air rifle. The cats weren't killed but his next door neighbour spotted the wounds on his cat's and took them to a vet. They obviously dicovered they had been shot and the BiB and RSPCA called.

Long story short, the guy with the air rifle ended up in court, found guilty, and got a fine and community service.

Interestingly this was a huge topic of conversation amoungst the neigbourhood, and one thing that came up was that in some other countries cat owners are expected to keep cats under control, take for walks, clear up etc as dog owners have to here. Also in some countries cats enter your garden at there own peril, as its perfectly legal to shoot/kill them.

Relations between the owner of the shot cats and the marksman are even frostier than before and they still live next door to each other.

[whoami]

oldnbold said:

We have several cats in our local area, and those of us that dont own one get realy pissed off continually having to clear up cat sh 1t. Last summer the guy across the road, a company director, having paid a fortune on landscaping and with a young kid finally had had enough.

He actually shot 2 of the neighbours cats with an air rifle. The cats weren't killed but his next door neighbour spotted the wounds on his cat's and took them to a vet. They obviously dicovered they had been shot and the BiB and RSPCA called.

Long story short, the guy with the air rifle ended up in court, found guilty, and got a fine and community service.

Interestingly this was a huge topic of conversation amoungst the neigbourhood, and one thing that came up was that in some other countries cat owners are expected to keep cats under control, take for walks, clear up etc as dog owners have to here. Also in some countries cats enter your garden at there own peril, as its perfectly legal to shoot/kill them.

Relations between the owner of the shot cats and the marksman are even frostier than before and they still live next door to each other.

I'm not sure which countries you are referring to but, thankfully, cats are protected under law in the UK.,

[TwigtheWonderkid]

oldnbold said:

in some other countries cat owners are expected to keep cats under control

Yeah....good luck with that. Because my cats hang on my every word.

In fact, cats don't have owners. Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

[oldnbold]

I think Australia was mentioned, just found these local laws from Victoria and the Gold Coast.

Compulsory registration.
Fines of up to $5,000 for owners of "recalcitrant" cats.
Curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Cats to be kept on a leash when outdoors and not allowed to enter another property or foul a public place.
Unsupervised cats outdoors may be seized.
Councils empowered to ban cats from premises or areas in the municipality.
Cats found in cat-free zones could be impounded, desexed or killed.
Cats found outdoors after curfew could be seized.

Certainly could do with a few of these laws in the UK.

[whoami]

We've got plenty of irrelevant, petty, rules and regulations in the UK already.

[oldnbold]

whoami said:

We've got plenty of irrelevant, petty, rules and regulations in the UK already.

Yes we have. And also a big problem with lazy pet owners who won't take responsability for the nuisance that their animals cause.

[otolith]

We have more of a problem with intolerance from people who don't accept the social norms of the communities they live in.

[lenats31]

No matter what, we can´t force others to like having our pets on their grounds, nor can we force these people to move away.