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Good ending. Now, about leaving her outside w/o sufficient food/water - did that get addressed? Would you consider cat-sitting in the future? Maybe offer to do it?
Yes, I do intend to tell her that I'll cat-sit next time they go out of town. I'm going to pick the kitties up from the vet today and I'll offer to do that when I take them to her.
Yes, I do intend to tell her that I'll cat-sit next time they go out of town. I'm going to pick the kitties up from the vet today and I'll offer to do that when I take them to her.
You beat me to the punch! When you abandon your pets like this...you lose all rights.
Are you a lawyer? I am very interested to know what the actual law is and how it would classify the owner's behavior as well as the OP's. As far as I'm concerned, the law comes first. Whether the OP used sound moral judgement (and the owner, clearly, did not) is really not the issue. I commend the OP's actions wrt the neglected animals but am very interested to know if he/she broke the law (or the owner, for that matter.)
Are you a lawyer? I am very interested to know what the actual law is and how it would classify the owner's behavior as well as the OP's. As far as I'm concerned, the law comes first. Whether the OP used sound moral judgement (and the owner, clearly, did not) is really not the issue. I commend the OP's actions wrt the neglected animals but am very interested to know if he/she broke the law (or the owner, for that matter.)
In general, pet owners are required to provide proper food, drink, shelter, sanitary environment, and protection from the weather for their pets. The punishment for not doing so varies from state to state. In Massachusetts, for instance, willfully abandoning a pet is defined as animal cruelty and is punishable by up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $2,500. In Georgia, abandoning a pet is a felony, and punishable by as much as 12 months in jail and fines as high as $5,000.
If you leave town for an unknown period, leave your pets outdoors without protection from the elements and without sufficient food and water, and you live in my neighborhood, I will assume you have abandoned your pet and I will do what is necessary to protect it. If you want to risk your own imprisonment and fine for abandoning your animal, go ahead and call the police and report me, I'm totally up for that.
We live in a residential neighborhood that has a serious feral cat problem. The lady who lives on our left feeds about 17 stray cats and has 5 or 6 who stay inside. She spays the females she is able to tame, but she does not trap and spay the ones who stay wild and does not neuter the males. Our end of the street smells like a litter box and a lot of the kittens you see around are sickly and disappear–presumably from intestinal parasites and disease. Several years ago I started trapping and spaying some of them at our local humane society. The HS vet offered to keep some of the kittens because she thought they were adoptable and the neighbor got a bit miffed at me for leaving them at the HS “because they were so cute.†Another one I trapped and spayed she ended up keeping as one of her house cats. Another of the cats had 5 kittens in her house and she kept all of them. I decided I was just going to stay out of it because I was taking vacation hours to take them to the vet and pick them up and it didn’t feel like I was getting anything done.
Now, on the other side of us a young couple moved in in February of this year. They had what appeared to be about an a year-old intact male cat. He immediately began spending all of his time yowling on our driveway and aggravating our three cats (all rescues, all spayed/neutered). Unbeknownst to me until later, another neighbor trapped him and took him to the pound. The cat situation has neighbors on edge around here.
A couple of months ago the young couple got two more kittens. They kept them in the house at first, but then started letting them outside. The woman is expecting a baby soon and her husband works out of town in some sort of two-week-on, one-week-off pattern. When he’s out of town, she often leaves town for a week or two at a time, presumably staying with her family somewhere else. She's planning on delivering her baby in the other town.
This last time she left town, about a week ago, she left the cats, a male and female who are about six months old, outside. There was a bowl of food and some water out, but both were empty and I’ve been feeding the cats for about 3 days now. I was talking to another neighbor about it and how ticked I was at their irresponsibility and how I knew the female would be coming into heat soon and we’d have another litter of kittens running around. From conversations I’ve had with the couple I know money is tight and about a month ago when I said “your cat will need spaying soon†the woman was non-committal.
Sooooo.......today I took both of the cats to my vet to be spayed and neutered. When I pick them up tomorrow I have a place for them in a big dog crate in our garage to recuperate for a couple of days.
Did I do the right thing? On the one hand, I think I did, not only because of the cat problem in our neighborhood, but because of the number of unwanted animals in general. On the other hand, I feel like a very pushy, bossy, neighbor who maybe should have just minded her own business.
Opinions?
FIRST thing that jumped out at me is that neighbor 1 is likely a hoarder.... does she live alone?? have any family nearby??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jill61
Suffice it to say, I completely disagree with you. If you leave your pet OUTSIDE, UNATTENDED for DAYS ON END, WITHOUT sufficient food and water, as far as I'm concerned, you've effectively abandoned your animals and I'm free to do whatever the hell I feel is necessary, including but not limited to spaying them, or even going so far as KEEPING them. Abandon your pet in my neighborhood at your own risk.
Are you a lawyer? I am very interested to know what the actual law is and how it would classify the owner's behavior as well as the OP's. As far as I'm concerned, the law comes first. Whether the OP used sound moral judgement (and the owner, clearly, did not) is really not the issue. I commend the OP's actions wrt the neglected animals but am very interested to know if he/she broke the law (or the owner, for that matter.)
No, I am not a lawyer. I think Jill61explained it clearly enough for you. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who leaves their pets to roam the streets has no rights. Animal control is free to pick up those pets or anyone else for that matter. The pets certainly can't speak for themselves..."I belong to so and so at 123 State St". I simply based my response on common sense.
IMO your neighbor abandoned the kittens. Leaving one bowl of food and one bowl of water outside for these kittens borders on cruelty. If it was up to me, I probably wouldn't even give her back the kittens.
I wouldn't, either. I can't imagine this woman cares whether those cats are dead or alive.
No, I am not a lawyer. I think Jill61explained it clearly enough for you. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who leaves their pets to roam the streets has no rights. Animal control is free to pick up those pets or anyone else for that matter. The pets certainly can't speak for themselves..."I belong to so and so at 123 State St". I simply based my response on common sense.
OMG, I really want to know what the actual law is. "As far as I'm concerned" is not a reply to a question regarding what the law is--it is your opinion. Your "common sense" also has nothing to do with the law.
The reason that I ask is b/c the OP probably broke the law. And I am a little concerned that people such as yourself have completely disregarded the law in this case and believe that your own opinion--rather than the law--is what counts here.
Much as I applaud efforts for taking care of neglected animals, we still need to obey and respect the laws in our areas, and work to change them rather than disregard them when we do not agree with them.
If you let your pets roam free and they go missing, too bad, so sad, you lost them.
Absolutely--sometimes reason and common sense has to prevail. It could be reasonably assumed the cats were abandoned. Marlow took care of them. How does anyone know that with empty bowls anyone was coming back for them, tecnically speaking. If they were well-cared for by responsible people I would say it was wrong in a neighborly sense. Given the plight of the neighborhood, the animals themselves, the general circumstances with feral unneutered cats around the area---it was a bold and courageous move. The heck with them. Let them confront you if they notice--you play dumb as a post--what--you wanted those cats?? Then how come you abandoned them?? Kind of the same as going to jail for civil disobedience. There is a greater issue and moral precept than the legal technicality. Way to go Marlow!
The reason that I ask is b/c the OP probably broke the law.
No, she probably didn't. Note that their previous cat spent his time on the OP's property.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlow
He immediately began spending all of his time yowling on our driveway and aggravating our three cats (all rescues, all spayed/neutered).
I don't know where the two kittens were picked up, but suffice it to say that it's not unlikely that they found their way into Marlow's yard.
Most municipalities have laws that allow homeowners to trap any animal that's on their property, even if it's a neighbor's cat, and take it to the pound, where the fate could be as dire as death by lethal injection.
And you seem to have overlooked my post, where I spelled out for you that it is illegal to abandon your cats outside. And when one leaves town for an indefinite period, without providing for proper food, water and shelter, it may well be considered abandonment. If that abandoned animal shows up in Marlow's yard, not only can Marlow trap it and get rid of it, but the neighbor could have found themselves facing felony charges when they got back in town.
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