there are only 5 that have laws on free roaming cats on the books. It never ceases to amaze me that there are people who insist that thier sense of justice ought to supplant the existing legal infrastructure of our democracy.

Sure it's a royal Pain In The Tucass to deal with this, but until your local laws are changed, it's up to you to work within the laws of your state to find a solution. Sure it would be nice if the neighbors were more co-operative in this area... But they (for the most part) aren't braking any laws, even though they open themselves up to liabilityl, but then, by statute, that is a choice they are free to make...

Matt

They might be "allowed" to roam free, but it is illegal to:

1. Cause damage to personal property
2. Kill protected song birds

Either or these will gain you the support of your local animal control.

if you read the whole thread, I'll I'm trying to do is to point out that this is a known problem with outdoor cats, and there are ways to deal with it that don't put the full burdon on either of the parties.

Matt

But you continually seem to miss the fact that by trapping the cat with a device given to you by animal control and letting them take the cat away you are well within YOUR rights, as is also suggested in the link that you provided:

"Humane Traps

Don't use anything other than a humane cage trap designed to lure a cat into the cage with food, and to safely contain him until he can be moved to another area. Most animal control agencies and humane societies loan or rent out these traps and some will even deliver and/or pick them up. Be sure to find out how to set and bait the trap, how to cover the trap, and how often to check the trap.

If you have any reason to believe that the cat has an owner, please think twice before trapping the cat, unless you plan to return him to his owner.

To trap a stray cat, bait the trap with canned cat food. Place the trap in an area that's sheltered, as much as possible, against the weather. Although you may hear some alarming noises when the cat realizes he's trapped, he's only scared, not hurt. If the cat is confined with no access to water or shelter from inclement weather or predators, it's important that you remove the trap from the area immediately. Using gloves to prevent scratches or bites, put the trap in a protected area until you can take the cat to an animal shelter (which should be as soon as possible). Please don't release a stray cat. This will only cause further overpopulation problems and, inevitably, a painful life and death for the cat.

Many owned cats, unfortunately, don't wear collars with identification. An owned cat who is lost may behave fearfully. If the cat is unknown to you, take him to your local animal shelter. He will be cared for there and his owners will have a better chance of reclaiming him. If he is not reclaimed, but of good health and temperament, the shelter will try to find him a new, loving home, at which time you may be able to take the cat yourself if you wish. That way, you can keep him safely confined in your home, where he belongs, with you."

I think the real question is if you truly love your pet/cat why would you let it roam free to **** off your neighbors and destroy their property when there are so many people out there who are obviously not hesitant to do whatever it takes to put an end to it?

Once again, there may not be laws against people who leave their cats outside but there ARE agencies that are legally designed to take care of cats that are left outside in every state.

I breed cats and UNDERSTAND YOUR PROBLEM... A SCAT MAT WILL Cause the cats a very low shock to tell it your top is NOT a hangout... It will only have to walk on it once and it will not be back..... CATGUY

And even added an explanation as to why trapping, while within your rights, may not resolve the issue.

Really, discouragment is the best solution. As many, many others have said. Trapping doesn't provide that goal.

Good luck with your issue.

Matt

Leave a bowl of milk in the garage with cyanide and rat poison in it.

That's not funny.

We have a neighbour who's cat always comes into our garage. For some reason it always sits on top of my dads porsche soft top. My dad gets rather angry when he goes to work and sees foot prints all over the car.

1. I have read the whole thread.
2. The burden should be entirely on the irresponsible owner, but unfortunately their lack of social grace means the rest of us have to do their work.

Too much poison, you're double dipping as rat poison is cyanide... (and no I don't promote poisoning anything other than varmints, but at what point when does a wayward pet become a varmint?)

.50 cal?

Inside the City Limits? Fine would be too high.

Let the fires begin:
Oh, and btw, I dearly love our cat -17 years with us and still frisky as a kitten.

Maybe hooking up a car battery to a metal plate on the roof?
I believe it works similar with neighborhood dogs who like to wash rims with their own source of fluid.. Kinda like peeing on an electric fence

Can't help with the top repairs and I'm sorry for your troubles but..

Since you are looking for a humane way of handling this situation, Catch the cat and take it for a very spirited ride. That'll do two things. #1 the cat will fall in love with your Mini and treat it with admiration and the respect it deserves. #2 after the ride, the cat will start ordering mods for you on it's owners visa or mastercard. If the cat's anything like the rest of us, you'll have the neighbors recouping your repair cost in no time.

Personnaly, I had to go sniper on the village idiot's cats. An Airsoft rifle and a little Rambo spirit will train the cat, harmlessly to stay off your property. Found two of the neighbors cats using my TR4 as a litter box. Now they don't cross the field to come my way.

Im sorry, but i dont understand why people get animals as pets they keep outside (ie: dogs chained up, outdoor cats, and wandering dogs). We love our pets and wouldnt want anything to happen to them by being left out. How can you enjoy their company if theyre left out, not to mention having to deal with fights and other injuries they might sustain from other animals, people, or cars? Not to mention, the overpopulation problem that is increasing.
Sorry for the off topic

rodent problems are severe where I live, and cats are good for that. Also, if you look at history, the Black Plauge was caused in part by the incorrect thoughts that cats were witches familiars, so mideval townsfolks pretty much went postal on them and got rid of what was limiting the spread of the insects carried on the roadents. I'm sure that if all free roaming cats were constrained, then there would be much larger rodent problems (basically choose your poisen.) Lastly, two of my cats really, really like going outside, and we don't have AC. During the hottest parts of the day the only way they can get some respite from the heat is to find a cool bush to lay under. We have three cats. One is an indoor cat by choice, one goes out to use the wilderness as a cat box and pretty much stays close, and one wanders a bit farther and is a hunter of the rodents (when we moved in we had huge rat and mouse problems, now not so much so).
Overpopulation and outdoors are coupled, but only by irresponsible owners. All our cats are spayed or nuetered.

Really, we're talking about animals that form part of the ecosystem of where we live. There are pluses and minuses to each and every issue. While I allow my cats to come and go as they please (barring racoon invations, then they are locked in or out, as they choose, cause we keep the cat door locked), I'd be fully supportive of working with any neighbor that had a problem with one of my cats in thier property. That said, I live in a neighborhood in the hills where the lot size ranges from 1+ to 12 acres, so we aren't as dense as many urban areas, and that decreases the magnitude of the problem.

there are tons of issues that come up with neighbors with pets. One of my neighbors has a hound dog (large lot as well, fenced pretty effectively) that barks all the time I'm in the hot tub if he's figured out we're using it. (He's not a very smart dog, so a lot of times I go undetected). There have been a few times that it's gotten bad enough to try to do something, but since they got a third (or fourth dog), the problem is much reduced. They aren't doing anything wrong or illegal, nor am I by letting my cats out. Some of the stuff is an imposition for sure, but we're good enough neighbors that we find ways to work it out.

My cat that wanders used to be a welcom visitor across the street. he'd sleep under thier porch by thier pool on hot days. The owners liked my cat, and sometimes would even give him treats or a bowl of water. They sold the house a few years ago, and one of the kids there is allergic to cats. Now he's not welcome there, and one of the boys was throwing rocks at my cat. I talked to him (afterall my cat was there first, and welcomed by the previous owners) and we settled on trying to scare my cat away, but no more rock throwing. It's working out. My cat finds other places to go, the girl with allergies doesn't have to deal with a cat that viewed their porch as his territory, and the cat doesn't have to worry about getting an eye put out just by going where he used to be welcome.

To tie this back to the original thread issues about the cat, a cooperative method of discouragement had the best results for all involved. Like so many others have mentioned.

Matt

shoot the owner not the Cat.

I can truly save everyone the trouble. If you know Cats then you know nothing works with all of them. And it is really the owner who should at least be cautioned of the consequences. And in court all you may really need is a picture of the damage and the cat on your property and not necessarily the MINI. Most states consider Cats to be free roamers and that is why no lease laws for Cats. I am on my 3 rd car cover in 2 years.

I feel like I'm repeating myself in defending my situation here, which still makes no sense to me that I have to defend my position at all to anyone (even cat owners). Someone's cat is doing damage to my car, and I am well within my rights after pursuing EVERY deterent method listed with no success in using my supplied Animal Control trap to catch the cat and turn it in to them.

But to update, since calling animal control on my neighbors and after they've driven by and seen the cat trap the animal has obviously been kept inside as the owners are afraid that they'll loose their cat otherwise - which is my point to begin with: If you are a cat lover, why would you let it roam around and damage other people's property when there are obviously many people less patient than I who would do even worse than catch your cat and turn it in to animal control? For the life of me I can't understand.

To argue that the kids next door shouldn't throw rocks at your cat, instead of you keeping you cat away from the kids next door is remarkably flawed logic to me, particularly when you say that the cat was there first before the new owners. But this has been the same logic my neighbors have shared.

As someone already stated, if you love your pets then it's your responsibility to if nothing else to keep them from harms way - other cats, racoons, angry neighbors, dogs, whatever........to argue anything different is just making excuses. Particularly when the animal starts to damage your neighbors property as you open the door for lawsuits (which you will loose if they formulate any kind of convincing case against you).

So, to sum up - the only thing that has fixed my problem IS the cat trap provided to me by animal control. If there are any cat owners out there reading this now I can only urge you think about your neighbors and your cat before you let it roam around (paricularly at night as this wouldn't have been an issue for me anyway if it were just during the day).

For my part I'm done defending my case and I thank all who have helped (or tempted me with more aggressive methods ).

Peace!

Right on. Someone sees the logic. There have been cases around where i live, and well, maybe its just around where i live, but people have sued the owners of dogs and cats for damage caused.. and won. For example (and not really on the subject), a driver passing through a neighborhood accidentally hit a dog, turned around and sued the owners for mental anguish caused by hitting and killing the dog.

I can understand the first part - reimbursement for property damage (to front bumper, etc) - ok sure. No problem.

But to sue for mental anguish for hitting the poor animal? Have we really come to that? Truly sad and petty beyond belief.

BIG bowl of buttermilk - no poison. The cat will be so freak'n FAT that it won't be able to jump onto your hood anymore ...

I guess they had somewhat of a leg to stand on due to the leash laws here, and the animal wasnt on one.

On another note, weve been chased on motorcycles, going around corners by loose dogs. Not the safest feeling while theyre jumping at you.

but I don't agree. We can both think what we want, but what it comes down to is what the relevent law. (Sorry for making the "my cat was there first crack, the humor sure didn't come across in the typed language for sure). What I was doing was showing how I came to a good solution to a problem with a cat roaming issue where everyone ended up satisfied, and that's the point, isn't it?

Motogeno seems to think that actually caging the cat would solve the problem, but as some have pointed out, it may just be a delaying tactic, as theres no guarantee that the cat would stay at animal control.

As many cat owners and other who've had problem have said, deterence is the best method (admittedly, sometimes this doesn't work). And now there's no guarantee that the cat will stay indoors. Gonna keep the cage on display forever? What makes one think that the cat owners will keep the cat indoors forever? Why do those that think not keeping cats locked up is a social faux-pas not realize that there is no law (in most parts of the nation) against allowing cats to roam, and some even acknoledge that it's in the cat nature to do so?

FWIW, Motogeno, sorry you feel that you have to defend your actions. What I've been trying to do (as have a few others) is suggest other courses of action that have pretty good chance of getting you what you want, a cat free carport, while still allowing the cat owners to do what the law says they are allowed to do. Not only were the suggestions in the vein of offering help, reasons why courses of action other than the cage are good ideas were offered. Not because I want you to defend yourself, but in the hope that you would have a high probability of solving your problems. Anyway I am glad that you seem to have a solution in hand, I'm saddened that it's been via intimidating the cat owners into changing thier prefered path of actions, but what they hay, you've been acting within your rights too. I hope that the solution is a permanent one.

Gotta go now, the cat wants out....

Matt

damned dog next door is barking again. Think I'll shoot it!

Without getting long winded, it is a pet owners responsibility to not inflict negative impact on his/her neighbors. This is the law of social interactions as well as responsibility for any damage the pet inflict (and potentially trespassing as well). The lack of a law banning your cat roaming free on your property does not mean it is allowed on my property or that anything it does (**** in my flower beds, kill song birds, scratch cars etc.) is an "act or nature"; the lack of such laws is actually outdated as it's rooted in farming communities and I'm positive we will see it revised in the next 20 years (though that fact doesn't change anything I say here).


If you have a problem with the neighbors dog barking, there are noise laws that cover that but you are are choosing to not use them as a tool which means you are not allowed to complain.

Trapping the animal will work as:
1. The owner will get sick of driving to animal enforcement to pick it up
2. It is likely there will be a fee involve, be it for trespassing/nuisance animal or lack of documentation/license
3. The cat is not going to like it anymore than a hose or electric mat

I'm getting the idea you won't understand the other side of the coin as there truly are cat people (who blindly believe the rest of us are willing to deal with them) and non-cat people (who can't accept that some of us have allergies).

As for your rat problem, this can also be handled with a terrier... and they understand boundaries. Then again, the cat problem can also be handled by a terrier as well...

Here is an effective cat deterrent! Funny thing is, he loves cats as he just wants to play... but most cats just see a 60lbs of stomach.