I'm upset and angry and I need to rant!

[gixer]

Your cat destroys my property or kills my fish, rabbits etc then i will do everything within my power legally to stop it.

If i've talked to the owner and they refuse to do anything then that IMO makes them irresponsible enough to warrant not being able to keep animals.
Is re-homing a cat without it's "supposedly" owners permission legal?

I do agree 100% though that poisoning is a callous and horrific way of dealing with any animal.

It is a bit of a jump to conclude it was done on purpose though.

 

[abominable_scouse_monster]

I would just like to go on record saying - I have no problem with cat's as pets I had one growing up, and I am feeding a recently abandoned one in my garden (next door moved out a week ago, left the cat hasn't been back), what I am unconformable with is the number in a small area some people can accumulate and the damage that can do to the local small bird population.

1- 3 cat's max in a urban area and 2 - 4 in really rural locations I have no problem with (along with responsible ownership like spaying an neutering, goes for dogs too) belling the collars (or that new sonic one) the owners have to admit that they are beta predators and will occasional take another animal but despite living with you an they may **** in a box at home they wont always wait to pinch one off they will find a quiet safe spot and drop one. If you see your cat dropping one pick it up! but you cant always do that unlike dog's. When I walk my dog I always make sure I have enough turd removal bags to remove any unwelcome deposits in the bank of nature, and at home in the garden they get picked up as soon as noticed.


Also @Nelis, I challenge you in that Cat cant kill a human, you have never met the mutant freek that is the beat of Bell Vale that thing is half lion half Spawn of satanic loins, it's a ferral cat of massive proportions that has been known to take on Alsations and win and I have seen it with my own eyes, ugly brute.

 

[xylaria]

Cats can and do kill people. They trip up people going down stairs, the parasites they pass to us increase the risks of schizophrenia, brain cysts and elderly dementia.

Answer worming tablets and stair lighting. My cat has more or less half his fat ginger intake of cat food since he has took to spending the night out. He wont come back in so we leave him to it. His deranged mental health has improved. I presume he is eating rodents, but he might be mugging the dog two doors up. Cats adopted humans when we got good enough at farming to have grain stores and the rats that came with them. A cat should hunt. He mostly does his number twos in my veg garden where I use his litter tray contents [woodchip and his wee] to keep the moisture around the roots of certain veg. A well wormed cat is carrying less disease than the rats he is hunting.

EDIT: a daily mail type article from the independent SEE SEE I told you tiddles is part of feline conspiracy to kill us all, they are polting thier revenge for feeding them rubbish food.

 

[santaman2000]

Cats can and do kill people. They trip up people going down stairs, the parasites they pass to us increase the risks of schizophrenia, brain cysts and elderly dementia.....

Yes but to be fair, Neils was comparing them to dogs attacking people. Loose cats rarely if ever do that and a fatality is even rarer (if there ever has been one)

 

[Humpback]

I wonder if it's time for the 'how do you turn a cat into a dog' joke yet?

 

[sandbender]

"...A group of dogs can kill humans while feral cats can't..."

Or maybe they are just smarter and they hide the bodies?

"...the parasites they pass to us increase the risks of schizophrenia, brain cysts and elderly dementia..."

Apparently that theory has been knocked on the head, although I look at my elderly sister with her three cats and I do wonder.

 

[santaman2000]

......Apparently that theory has been knocked on the head, although I look at my elderly sister with her three cats and I do wonder.

Are you sure?

 

[sandbender]

Are you sure?

Well actually...

...maybe not.

In response to the OP, I have lived with two cats in my life, we lived in the country, they kept the barn rats at bay, and they were big rats. Someone who would poison a cat with antifreeze has a special hell waiting for them.

 

[WoodMan]

I remember seeing a sign when I was a lad saying any dogs found on land would be shot, and this is a legal right in place to stop dogs attacking or harrassing live stock. It's fiar, your dog should not be chasing cattle.

This is not correct now (may have been when you were a lad, I have no idea how old you are), the circumstances under which a landowner (and certain other people) can shoot a dog are very limited and most sensible people realise that to do so must be an absolute last resort. Sadly, there are many people working in the countryside that are not so sensible.

Most cases of dogs being shot should result in the person being prosecuted for criminal damage and, if firearms rather than shotguns are used, they may well be in breach of the conditions of their firearm certificate except for the fact that they are generally protected by the fact that any case would be heard in a magistrates court so the old school tie network kicks in straight away.

If it does get to court the landowner/employee will be defended by specialist defence liars (sorry lawyers, always get the spelling wrong on that one) and generally supported by one of the fieldsports groups.

 

[Goatboy]

 

[EdS]

dirty, mess leaving, disease carrying, wild life killing menaces - not to condone the unpleasant poisoning but I can see why some one might.

It wrong to cause suffering but less cats the better. Cat owners should be made to clean up like dog owners should.

 

[Samon]

This is not correct now (may have been when you were a lad, I have no idea how old you are), the circumstances under which a landowner (and certain other people) can shoot a dog are very limited and most sensible people realise that to do so must be an absolute last resort. Sadly, there are many people working in the countryside that are not so sensible.

Most cases of dogs being shot should result in the person being prosecuted for criminal damage and, if firearms rather than shotguns are used, they may well be in breach of the conditions of their firearm certificate except for the fact that they are generally protected by the fact that any case would be heard in a magistrates court so the old school tie network kicks in straight away.

If it does get to court the landowner/employee will be defended by specialist defence liars (sorry lawyers, always get the spelling wrong on that one) and generally supported by one of the fieldsports groups.

This was nearly 20 years ago.. Has it changed since then?

 

[British Red]

You can shoot a dog that is actively attacking livestock, when no other option presents itself or other options have been exhausted. Simply being off the lead is not sufficient - livestock does include all living creatures - not just sheep (you would be amazed how many think its okay for their dog to chase game for example)

 

[daveO]

It's a shame people can't be more rational when it comes to this debate so it could be sorted out without ending up as a dog vs cat slanging match every time. The whole law regarding cats needs a rethink in my opinion, especially given circumstances like this where home owners feel they're so bound by law to protect cats that they either have to sit back and powerlessly watch cats doing what cats do on their property or resort to cruel methods of control out of frustration and which are in effect totally pointless anyway.

Cats need the right to roam in certain circumstances. If we take that right away then, for example, farm owners etc will end up needing some kind of licence to keep them as rodent control on farms which would be quite impractical I imagine. At the same time, like I said before, property owners need some form of protection for their property so they can feel like they don't have to fork out money or break the law to keep cats off their land if they're posing a problem.

The thing is though you can look at the dog mess in public places problem and see how pointless any kind of law would be. In my local area there are plenty of dog mess bins, plenty of signs threatening fines and plenty of piles of dog mess. Do any of the irresponsible owners think of giving up their dog or not getting a dog because they don't want to clear up after it? No and you'll get exactly the same thing with cats.

I don't know what the solution is but it won't be solved by threats of fines or any kind of law that allows harm to come to cats.

In my opinion all pet owners should be legally bound to be responsible in their ownership or don't have a pet in the first place. This includes controlling your animal once it's off your property but it's a shame that this will never happen.

 

[grip]

Where we used to live someone laced tins of tuna with poison one was left at our garden gate because we had a cat, we also had a baby daughter who played in the garden thankfully neither one came in contact, but it could of quite easily gone the other way.
When I found this I was ready to kill someone as you can imagine but what I ended up doing was making a huge painted sign warning the culprit and all the other neighbours as to what was going on and what would happen if it continued needless to say it never happened again........its a bloody sad state of affairs when idiots are resorting to such cruelty...Grip

 

[Tomcoles]

I have three cats and although they can be a pain in the **** and sometimes I wanna put my boots on and give them a kick up the ****. As a human I have a little more self control. I particularly hate it when they bring in birds.
My point is although they can be a pain and also kill wildlife there are still an animal and someones family per as the most superior species on the plant u would think humans would act accordingly. Unfortunately some people feel powered by killing without a justifiable reason. I hunt and I kill animals but I do it for a purpose, to eat. There really is not credible reason to kill someone's family pet. Weather u like the animal or not that person should rise above it. And grow up!

 

[santaman2000]

...... Unfortunately some people feel powered by killing without a justifiable reason. I hunt and I kill animals but I do it for a purpose, to eat. There really is not credible reason to kill someone's family pet. Weather u like the animal or not that person should rise above it. And grow up!

I have no cats at the moment but I have in the past. Currently I have two dogs.

I also eat what I hunt but that isn't the purpose of hunting (TBH I can buy food more cheaply) Rather the meat's an added bonus, the real purpose of hunting is the sheer pleasure I get spending the time with like minded folks in the field.

I avoid poisoning somebody else's pets but yes there can be a justifiable reason to kill them. If they're harassing my animals (be it my livestock or my pets) or my family, I will kill them. Plain and simple. I won't tolerate somebody else's animals attacking my family or my animals. Nor do I expect them to tolerate it from my animals. That's just one of the reasons I keep mine under control.

The ones needing to "grow up" are the ones who expect others to NOT protect their own.

 

[Tomcoles]

I completely agree with everything you have said santaman. As both of us hunt and know the many different aspects of hunting that's enjoyable the one thing any good hunter prides himself / herself on is a clean kill that minimises the suffering of the quarry. For this reason poisoning and animal is not a clean kill and causes unnessacery suffering. If said animal is harassing you or your family. I would start by approaching the owner about it and if nothing's resolved then shoot it. But give the owner warning and a chance to change the animals behaviour. Especially when they probably have no idea the animals even behaving in that way. I have a GPS cat tracking collar and I was amazed by the territory that they patrol everyday. Which I have checked out to see if they are going places they shouldn't or are causing problems. I think a bit of mutual respect to start with between naghbours would have stopped anything like poisoning a pet happen.

 

[dwardo]

I completely agree with everything you have said santaman. As both of us hunt and know the many different aspects of hunting that's enjoyable the one thing any good hunter prides himself / herself on is a clean kill that minimises the suffering of the quarry. For this reason poisoning and animal is not a clean kill and causes unnessacery suffering. If said animal is harassing you or your family. I would start by approaching the owner about it and if nothing's resolved then shoot it. But give the owner warning and a chance to change the animals behaviour. Especially when they probably have no idea the animals even behaving in that way. I have a GPS cat tracking collar and I was amazed by the territory that they patrol everyday. Which I have checked out to see if they are going places they shouldn't or are causing problems. I think a bit of mutual respect to start with between naghbours would have stopped anything like poisoning a pet happen.

Memory is failing me but was there not a program on recently where they attached cameras ti cats to see what they were upto on an average day?
googling.

 

[Tomcoles]

Yes that's the program we got the idea from and started to track our cats the collars are expensive £130