| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/15/2008 8:48:42 PM | | you could already be breaking the law if the city or county has limits on how many you can have without a kennel liscense, stealing the trap would be a misdameanor probably, and maybe criminal trespass, but you have to realise it just gets uglier and uglier, build a pen for them and have them all fixed | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/15/2008 11:24:13 PM | I quickly glanced through this thread and haven't read all the posts. What astounds me is the fact that the OP's child is allergic to cats yet she invites cats to her yard (feeds them) . I'm guessing your son can't use the yard all that much.
Also, taking the position,
I've spent too much money & time on these lil angels to let some old hag with no life destroy them..
It tells me you have little respect for anything/anyone when it comes to massaging your ego and need for attention. You'll humiliate other people and impose on your kids health concerns just so you can feel like a hero.
Your maturity on most issues are probably as intelligent a resolve as stated:
I've been waving to her....cause she never waves back...she just stands there & stares...which just makes me wave harder....guess I shouldn't done that...horrible me for waving...
You should find other ways to get your need for attention. You act like an adolescent. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 12:59:35 AM | i see it like this. you can't control your animals. whether your intentions were good, or not... you've chosen to feed stray cats to the point where they come to your house for food. sure you bring them to the vet and whatnot, but if you can't keep them in your house, and you can't keep them off of your neighbors yard, then you have no business keeping them. i hate having to pause before i drive into my driveway because a neighbor 5 or 6 houses down can't keep her cat out of my driveway. i wouldn't go as far as getting traps or anything, but i can't make any promises that i won't run it over by accident. animals have no business in the street, especially domesticated animals. i almost got into an accident trying to avoid somebody's cat that bolted across the street in front of me. in hindsight, i probably should have just run it over, instead of risking my life and the lives of others.
and on top of it, you have animals that you can't bring inside your own house because of your son, which means that all you are doing is keeping them on your property with food. while that may seem like a noble act, you're also infringing on the rights of your neighbor to not have random animals on her property. it's her right to be able to walk outside w/out having to worry about animals being there, for whatever reason. people choose to not have pets because they don't want pets, or the problems that come with it, whether it's something little like shit on their stoop, or animals going through their garbage and making messes and whatnot. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 3:38:19 AM |
leaving out saucers of anti-freeze
What....
Prestone or Quaker State ?
No...Peak.
The other two leave an aftertaste.....
Man that's not even funny. I had a cat who had to be put to sleep because of this same thing. It is burned into my brain the agony that poor beast went through in the 15 minutes it took us to assess the situation and get him to the vet who immediately put him down. Shame on you and shame on whoever it was that you were quoting.  | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 4:04:34 AM | Though mothballs may kill some plants, they are not composed of ammonia.
Thanks for the correction. But the fact still remains. No one should have to put destructive chemicals in their garden to keep pets out, much less even need to purchase any kind of repellents.
If I have to spend any money to keep cats from destroying my property, I can then consider them to be pests and they can then be treated and terminated as pests.
I've spent too much money & time on these lil angels to let some old hag with no life destroy them..
And she's probably thinking, "I've spent too much money and time on my garden to let some douche bag, inconsiderate, troubled youngster's cats destroy them."
And you know what? She has a great point. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 4:40:41 AM | You should either bring them inside or find homes for them. The only reason that people think differently about cats is the way society has conditioned us. People argue that it is natural for cats to go out exploring, yada, yada, why? Is this also not the natural behavior of a dog that has not been put behind a fence or in a house?
I like cats, can't own them because of allergies but when I did have them they were house cats because I didn't want them getting run over and getting into fights with other cats or dogs. Animal control doesn't go after cats like they do dogs because of the time required so essentially by giving this trap to your neighbor, they are in a way deputizing that individual to act for them and get the stray off the street.
If someone's dog is running the neighborhood, people do complain because they can actually be a physical threat but I really do not see stray dogs causing any more trouble than stray cats, just that the latter is more accepted by society. I don't appreciate the digging they do in my yard or the eau de cat that I sometimes encounter when I get into my vehicle after it was sprayed by a cat marking it's territory.
Cats find feeders, you currently have five, I have a neighbor that had 20-30 strays because she didn't spay or neuter them but even though your population will not increase exponentially, at what point do you stop facilitating more strays hanging out in your neighborhood? I can appreciate what you are doing and I have fed strays in the past but if it became a regular thing rather than leaving out some food for a half-starved cat or kitten, more permanent arrangements were made.
You now see them as your cats as you made abundantly clear on the first page, make them yours or find people that will keep them in the house. You see her behavior as disrespectful but yours is as well. You may think she is an old hag, but she is a hag that has a right to enjoy where she lives just as you do and it is incumbent on both of you to find a way that will not encroach on each other. You created the problem, you need to solve it and stop laying blame on her for doing what she feels is necessary to protect her quality of life. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 7:48:36 AM | That "old hag" may very well simply just be a nice old lady who happens to not want cats in her yard.
She sees them as wild cats because, after all, they are running wild.
It's her yard, her right to not want a cat around.
For all you know, this "old hag" may even have a fear of cats. You don't know.
She may just be a lonely older person who enjoys her gardens/yard because there isn't much else in her life.
You don't know her as a person, her long life of experiences, or anything much about her at all.... yet you call her an "old hag". Shame on you. Childish of you.
Listen, I have a good friend... hahaha, he's probably "old" to you... and know what he'd do in this situation?
He'd first tell you politely that he does NOT want stray/wild cats on his property.
Then.... he wouldn't ask humane society for a trap.. nope.. he'd just shoot the cats!
I think that's horrible, by the way, but that would be his answer.
"I talked to her, she doesn't care, now I take the quickest action.. easiest for me...why should I have to get all involved with setting traps and dealing with animal shelters?" , he says.
Now, aside from his dislike of stray dogs and cats hanging around and bothering his own couple of acres and his own pets... this man is a very nice guy!
He's not an "old codger" "old hag" "old grumpy"..
he doesn't deserve disrespect...
in other words, he doesn't deserve some youngster looking down on him.
He simply does not want stray animals hanging around on his property, that's all.
You, OP, do want to feed and *try* to take care of stray cats. Well, good for you... that's your choice.
But sorry, if it begins to be a pest/bother for neighbor's property... then THEY have the right to do something about it. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 9:08:55 AM |
leaving out saucers of anti-freeze
What....
Prestone or Quaker State ?
No...Peak.
The other two leave an aftertaste.....
Man that's not even funny. I had a cat who had to be put to sleep because of this same thing. It is burned into my brain the agony that poor beast went through in the 15 minutes it took us to assess the situation and get him to the vet who immediately put him down. Shame on you and shame on whoever it was that you were quoting
If people took into account everyone's personal plight on the planet before an attempt to utter a witty remark this world would be a miserable place. If you're that offended I would suggest that you never enter a comedy club or watch the comedy channel for that matter.
Keep on the sunny side.
Now have you heard the one about the chinese restaurant and the daily special ? | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 12:48:37 PM | OP,
Frankly, I'll just come out and say it : you're a selfish, thoughtless, disrespectful excuse for a neighbour.
YOU want to take care of strays. Fine , that's very good of you. I also love cats and own two of them. Nothing I'd hate more than to see either of them suffer. For that matter, I hate to see any animal suffer. On the other hand, I understand that by taking these two animals in, they become MY RESPONSIBILITY. Just because I love animals doesn't mean that I have the right to force my neighbours to tolerate them in any way if they don't want to.
It's no different than those negligent parents that think it's cute when little Jimmy gets up out of his seat at a restauarant and starts playing under other peoples' tables while they're dining. Instead of doing something to reign the kid in, you chastise the people who ask you to do what you agreed to do...namely, to watch little Jimmy.
This neighbour of yours has a RIGHT to expect her property remain free of the cats YOU collect. You seriously think she just saw your cats and decided she'd be malicious about it ? No...you said you've been collecting and caring for strays for years. Now all her hard work in the garden is being torn up by what should be YOUR responsibility. You say it isn't but yeah, that sure doesn't explain why she'd think to get a trap in the first place. Maybe you think you're some kind of eco-hero or something. Maybe you think you're actually helping the world here. No , you're not. You're forcing people to resort to whatever measures they feel are necessary to defend their RIGHTS.
So how's this : let's turn the tables to see if you understand how selfish you're being. From now on, your neighbour gets to park her car in front of your driveway at the entrance. Sure, there's probably a bylaw that says she can't do that but hey...she can ignore any bylaw she wants to if you can too. And I suppose when you call the cops on her and they tell her to move her car , once she winds up parking it back in the same place again , you have no recourse but to simply accept that she likes to park her car where it blocks you in ? So one day, you get the cops to issue her with a ticket. I suppose that according to your logic, she has every right to cut your phone line so that you can't call the cops again right ? "Yeah, but wait a second here....didn't she start this by ignoring both my property rights in spite of the law and by ignoring what would obviously be my desire to access MY driveway ?" Well sure but that's alright...you get to collect cats and figure you don't have to take any actual responsibility for what they do. "But they're strays !" Yeah...and you're bringing as many as possible over to your place. If you want to do that, that makes them your responsibility.
Of course you're be absolutely appalled at anybody who tells you to act like an adult and informs you that you're being a schlemiel. No doubt you'll launch into a verbal assault on how you're glad you're not my neighbour and how it's people like me that are the problem. The insults will fly freely I'm sure. Go nuts, I won't waver on my opinion of your actions. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 1:16:38 PM | Feeding feral cats is the most environmentally harmful thing you can do. They are extremely good at feeding themselves but when they are fed and protected they do incredible damage to the native wildlife.
It's well documented on how they savage the songbird population but I've seen them eat entire families of rabbits(mama, papa and babies) and large birds like pheasants an Guinea fowl.
They need to be taken to the humane society so they can be socialized and adopted by a family. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 5:32:57 PM | "my son's allergic to cats, so i should own 5. i'll just keep them outside so that they can get run over by cars, or caged by neighbors who don't want MY pets in THEIR yards."
you're a terrible mother, and a horrible pet owner. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 6:39:47 PM |
If people took into account everyone's personal plight on the planet before an attempt to utter a witty remark this world would be a miserable place. If you're that offended I would suggest that you never enter a comedy club or watch the comedy channel for that matter.
Keep on the sunny side.
Now have you heard the one about the chinese restaurant and the daily special ?
The funny thing about that...is that I do have a sense of humor and use it often on these threads. Sorry you miss it. But when someone is talking about abuse of an animal, it's not funny. Do you make shaken baby jokes too? Let's just pick on the defenseless, shall we? It's not those cats' fault, it's the OP's. Those cats should not be killed because the OP chose to inadvertently be irresponsible trying to be nice. If she quits feeding them, they'll find food elsewhere. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 7:57:52 PM | if u could do the stuffed animal scenario with a straight face, that would be freaking hilarious. otherwise.....sabotage that crazy neighbor best u can.  | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/16/2008 9:25:47 PM | Simmah wrote
Sorry you miss it.
Who missed what in this thread ?
Hawaiian wrote
one of my best friends ... is a ferel cat fanatic. She eventually had to let it rest to some degree before in interupted her marriage and job, not to mention her sanity.
I'm advising the OP pretty much the same thing as you.
You admittedly took everything out of context.
Simmah wrote
I only read the original post | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/17/2008 3:19:25 AM | OP, go search out the Cat vs Dog thread that I started. If I were close to you, I'd bring all my dogs down and let your neighbor borrow them for a day or two.
I'll admit that my neighbors have left a very sour taste in my mouth after their whole cat incident. But, regardless, this isn't about the cats OP. It's about you not being a responsible pet owner. Hey, you took in some strays. Alright, alot of people take in strays at some point in their lives. I have a dog that was abandoned down our road. Whenever another dog gets dumped, I'm usually the one that takes it in for a week or two until I can find it a home. I go pay for shots, wormer, and a spay/neuter...all to turn around and give it away in about 15 days.
So, I can't fault you for wanting to do the right thing. However, getting SOME of them shots and SOME of them fixed doesn't cut it OP. And letting them run the roads, REALLY doesn't cut it.
Your behavior towards your neighbor is ridiculous. She doesn't want cats around? That's her perogative and she shouldn't even have to set traps for them, YOU should keep them contained. Plain and simple. Can't afford to fence in your yard? Build a damn cat run. I'll even point you in the right direction if you like. You can build a pretty good size one for $50.
Cats are very unhygenical animals. They pass along nasty little diseases (cat scratch fever, etc), pooping in someone elses yard can potenitally pass along parasites to other animals AND HUMANS....yeah, that'd be great for the little ol' lady to go outside bare foot, step in some cat shit, and then have tape worms, hook worms, whip worms, etc. What are you going to do when a neighborhood kids sees one of your cats, tries to pet it, and the cat bites it? You going to pay the costs of getting your cat back from the humane society after they keep it 10 days to check for rabies? How about the shots and hospital bills that this child will have to endure?
Or what will you do when one gets hit by a car and it costs $1500 to save it's life? You going to pay that $1500 or are you just going to pay $30 and have the animal euthanized? Or, what happens when one gets feline leukemia? You going to pay for all the things necessary to treat it?
OP, I can't fault your INTENTIONS, but I do fault your ACTIONS. If you do not have the knowledge and the finances to handle your animals, you shouldn't have them. Plain and simple.
I won't even touch on you not having regards for your childs allergies. That's just wrong.
~Welder's Girl~ | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/17/2008 3:22:31 AM | | Hawaii Uncle, I was referencing the person who was talking about anti freeze. Then you said I have no sense of humor...and I was addressing that too. I didn't read the posts before my first post, but read them after it.... But whatev. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/17/2008 7:55:06 AM | ^The OP already went right ahead and did what she so proudly professed she was going to do.
Exceptionally immature behaviour coupled with a prodigious helping of self-righteousnous makes for one lousy neighbour. I'll bet when her kids grow up to be the neighbourhood hooligans, it'll all be "society's" fault too. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/17/2008 8:58:54 AM | While I did smirk at the "Quaker State or Penzoil" comment (or whatever brands they were, who cares) I have to agree with Simmah that it wasn't really that funny and I have one helluva sick sense of humor. I've seen a few of my cats die at once because of antifreeze poisoning. It's a long, painful death, and completely inhumane. I'd rather find my animal with a bullet hole through it's head that poisoned like that. If you've never had to listen to the howls of a dying cat then you won't get it. It's heart wrenching.
you're a terrible mother
You know, a lot of people are a lot of things, but one of the lowest things you can ever say about a woman is that she's a terrible mother. Especially in a situation like this- yes, she should probably be more worried about her son's allergies than the cats, but that doesn't make her the worst mother on earth. She's not giving the kid crack for f*cks sake! How would you like someone saying your mom was terrible? I know your mom is deceased which would probably make it sting more, no? (I'm sure you'll say you wouldn't care, but you know you would.)
OP I have to agree that while you're trying to do a good deed, you're likely making the problem worse. I understand your heart is in the right place, and I'm not going to bash you for that. I just think there are better ways of rescuing animals. In my town, we have friends of the shelter. They care for animals until they find homes. It helps the shelter out and keeps a lot of animals from being put down. They have days that they will take the animals for adoption to the PetsMart to promote adoption. Perhaps you could get involved in something like that if your area has such a service? | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/17/2008 9:11:56 AM | ^I happen to agree that that statement is going too far. Mind you, if all we had to go on was what the OP has stated so far in this thread, it would probably be an accurate description of her ability to guide children along the path to adulthood. Nevertheless, I figure that if somebody hasn't had their children removed from their care or walked out on them , then they should be given the benefit of the doubt.
In this case, the mother in question is simply setting a terrible example. Not a lot of forethought went into her plan and if her children are aware of it, they'll follow this horrible example and repeat it themselves by being impulsive and reckless throughout what could turn out to be the rest of their lives. That's horrible mothering alright but it may well be balanced out by her more responsible and intelligent child-reering practises. | |
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| need advice..fixing to do something illegal
Posted: 6/17/2008 9:22:35 AM | Sigh....
Sometimes you wish people would READ all of the postings PRIOR to commenting on them.
The original statement I made about anti-freeze was that the OP was lucky her neighbor DIDN'T set out anti-freeze to kill the strays that were crossing her property.
As far as joking about it...I doubt if the people who were "bothered" by subsequent comments are (or will be) bothered enough to write to the manufactures of ethylene glycol (the basic chemical ingredient of anti-freeze) and suggest that they add an agent to their product that will make anti-freeze less "tasty" and thus less appealing to animals.
It's always amusing to me that people are "upset" by what they perceive to "animal cruelty" and yet take little action other than whining and complaining.
I guess they really aren't THAT upset after all.
Or maybe they just like to whine and complain. | |
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