Comments on: Proposal To Fine Cat Owners When Cats Trespass On Property

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:45:23 +0000

God, people, just put up fences. Most cats are too stupid, and they’ll fail to jump over the fence, and they’ll sometimes even hurt themselves a bit, perhaps preventing future attempts to jump over the fence. The higher the fence, the better - the fence around my back yard is 8 feet tall. Did I mention that you should have barbed wire along the top?

By: Casey

Casey — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:08:23 +0000

You can train cats to use an invisible electric fence the same as dogs.
My neighbor, in Charlemont, Ma., brought home a vicious attack tom cat. He immediately began stalking and mauling our tiny Toy Fox Terrier and gentle stay-at-home cat on our deck, driveway, while we were at our picnic table, etc. Whenever I called an injury to her attention, I just got verbal abuse. They seemed to think that because there are no town leash laws for a cat, he could maul my pets on my property with impunity.
I finally took her to small claims court to cover the vet cost for puncture wounds to my cat inflkicted right in front of my eyes. The ruling was for the plaintiff. She appealed and appearead in court with her mother. I had no idea I had to pose questions to these people I dreaded for their manipulative tactics,and was confused by their backing up each others dissimulations. Despite the fact they gave conflicting evidence, the judge reversed the ruling. My last resort for justice is to write a well crafted motion to the court with good reason. Meanwhile, that cat has disappeared to the predators of the night, most likely a Fisher or a Fox, as we live in the rural Berkshires of Western Massachusetts abutting the State Forest, and they leave their cats out at night. They have since lost several other cats for the same reason.

By: Cookie2

Cookie2 — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:24:10 +0000

How timely this years-old post is. (For moral support in the face of ignorant behavior.)
A neighbor recently adopted three cute kittens - and now sic three cats on the neighbourhood. Cats live an average of fifteen years… and we have to put up with the feces, urine, digging, spraying, bird and gecko eating, plant damage? My own indoor cat died recently at 15 years of age-related illness; after due consideration, I decided not to start a new 15 year commitment. Now how’s that for irony…
How is it that people who profess to love cats will send them out into the foreign yonder to brave possibly fatal adventures unknown?

By: Bev

Bev — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:07:05 +0000

While I am an animal lover, I have to say I have tried for over a year to have my neighbor keep their cat on their property. Why? Because I have two dogs and live across a busy street from my neighbor. One day one of two things may happen. I let me dogs out to do thier busniess (on MY property) they see the cat it runs back across the street, BAM their cat or my dog(s) get killed by a passing car. Now who will feel worst, me my dog si dead, my neighbor their cat is dead, or the person driving the car that hit the animal, assuming they too wher not hurt in trying to avoid the whole thing, that could have been provented if the damn cat was kept indoor or on their property. Lets look at it this was, I am by law responsible for my dog(s) staying on my property. Why shouldn’t cat ownership have the same responsibility? Imagine YOU being the car driver, your car is wrecked by trying to avoid someones animals, or worst your injured? Maybe even dead if you hit a tree or telephone pole. Please cat lovers keep your cats at YOUR home not mine.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:31:36 +0000

This last comment should not be linked to the web site that it was. It is not associated with this sites owners. It should be removed. Thank You

By: Justice Forall

Justice Forall — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:00:03 +0000

Check out this site on you tube… the authors name is “justice4madison” they show how bad neighbors and law enforcement can be.

By: Madeleine

Madeleine — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:57:31 +0000

This type of ordinance will be enacted more and more if owners don’t take responsibility for either keeping their cats/dogs INDOORS WITHOUT SUPERVISION or OUTDOORS WITH SUPERVISION. I am a cat parent and would no sooner let my cat outdoors without my being there than I would a child. Both are bound to get into trouble.

By: Moonbeams

Moonbeams — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:28:30 +0000

Thank you catmom5 for your coment which only reaffirms that if I do ever get a kitty again, my cat will be strictly indoors. More and more I see hawks around our homes and hear coyotes and very seldom see a cat in the neighborhood.

By: catmom5

catmom5 — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:16:41 +0000

furmom, I’d be worried that someone who really doesn’t like cats might get fed up and do something awful like poison them. I have a woman in my neighborhood who swears a feral cat attacked and killed her little Yorkie. (Since we have raccoons and possom and hawks I rather doubt it was a feral cat!) This woman is on a vendetta to capture ALL roaming cats. She has a yard full of traps that she baits with tuna and salmon and then turns the caught animals over to animal control. I don’t even want to think about how many of them ever make it up for adoption. I don’t understand why anyone who has cats would allow them to be outside unsupervised around this neighborhood.
It just doesn’t seem worth the risks to me . . .

By: Phoebe

Phoebe — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:38:29 +0000

I love cats. We don’t currently have one, but neighbors up and down the street have always had them. Most of the families have indoor/outdoor cats (even though coyotes are very active in the area). Unfortunately, the little furballs - cute as they are - are very fastidious creatures and do not soil their own properties, but instead ‘bless’ those of us without cats. Our yards are their outdoor litterboxes. We’ve all seen one cat, in particular, who will lounge on his family’s driveway, suddenly get an ‘urge’ and run across the street to a neighbor’s flower garden where he digs and, eventually, buries his fragrant ‘present.’ Then he strolls back to his driveway for more sun time. Charming.

So, the cats’ families enjoy their pristine yards, while the rest of us ‘enjoy’ the stench their cats left behind. It’s ludicrous that if we want to walk barefoot in the grass that we have to do so in a cat owner’s yard because that’s the only place we know we won’t step in anything. Yes, that’s an owner problem and, yes, they should be held responsible. They need to go to each home and scoop, especially in flower gardens. If we scoop up after our dogs on walks (and we always do, not just because the law requires it), they should be prepared to do the same with their cats.

By: stargirl

stargirl — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:43:27 +0000

hmmm, will attleboro now rename its city council the “kitty council”?

By: Sky Eyes Woman

Sky Eyes Woman — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:17:05 +0000

highnote said:
“We had a male cat we kept indoors and he got a urine infection. The vet said that a male will hold his urine as long as he can when kept indoors and that this causes them urinating tract problems and kidney problems too.”

Your vet is wrong. Urinary tract infections can also be caused by lack of hydration and other ways too, not just “holding it”. I have a male cat who has lived indoors his whole life and has not had a problem with UTI. I make sure he eats good canned food and he takes a supplement to keep his urine acidic. (Uri-Ease treats made by Nutri-Vet, try them.) I keep the litter boxes clean and make sure there is fresh water available to them at all times. If you have a cat that won’t use a litterbox and insists on going outside to potty, have you tried offering him a litterbox inside that is filled with dirt? A lot of the cats like this are not objecting to the box or being indoors, but the litter you use.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:39:03 +0000

Ask yourself:

Would you want your cat to be picked up as bait for dog fighting? Killed by a coyote? Or stolen for lab experimentation? To be exposed to oncoming traffic that kills?

My friend has the right idea. She trained her kitty to wear a harness and walk on a leash. Yes, she walks kitty each day and kitty has learned it’s better than never going outside at all.

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 03:15:15 +0000

Cats should be inside. If you live in an urban area, you have to worry about cars; if you live in a rural area, you have to worry about raccoons and coyotes. I wouldn’t let my cat outside unsupervised any more than I’d let a toddler wander around the street.

By: furmom

furmom — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:06:20 +0000

Our neighbor doesn’t like cats, doesn’t keep one. Our cat has been over there a lot, so she’s probably not keen about that. The thing is, they had TONS of mice, in their house, around their house, they were even coming over to our place. So people would rather have mouse droppings everywhere. When some people in our town started a campaign about stopping all cats everywhere, I wonder if they’ve thought about what they are going to do with the mouse/rat problem if their campaign got off the ground.