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There is no indication that the cats are causing any health issues. A "more suitable and better home" away from the elderly handicapped person who cares for them (since there is nothing to assume otherwise)? Too many assumptions.
These are obviously not feral animals and no assumptions can be made as to whether or not they are spayed/neutered unless there are continual litters of kittens adding to the mix. We don't even know how many cats there are!
One complaint from one tenant in years of nobody else making a murmur and a whole bunch of assumptions are being made based on one post. Good grief.
The OP already stated that the neighbor is a cat hoarder and has a lot of cats and that their parents turned a blind eye.
We have no idea how many other neighbors have complained because the OP only has ONE tenant in the neighborhood..I'd bet if they went door to door they'd get a lot more.
Animal hoarders are not great owners and are usually dealing with physical and mental issues. Money is usually an issue and the animals end up neglected.
Does your "cat neighbor" provide litter boxes INSIDE his own home for the cats that seem to be around and "his", or does that cat neighbor just feed them all and many of them are feral?
Does the cat neighbor take care of any veterinary needs of these cats or are they just running loose, mating, making kittens, and spraying and leaving their poops all over the neighborhood?
Cats spray, and that smell is strong and stinky. Your tenant has a right to complain and expect something to be done. Your tenant has the right to call the humane society himself, as well.
I'd suggest *you* call the humane society. As Braves Fan said, it's not healthy for the cats, the cat neighbor or your tenant, and you are contributing to the problem by not actively addressing it.
If the cat neighbor's home is in such a state as it may be condemned, then it's not likely a safe place for that person to live, especially if he is in a wheelchair and things are as bad as I'm reading into this.
If something happened, a fire or an accident that took the life of your wheelchair bound neighbor, I think you'd feel terrible. While we are generally not, really, strictly speaking, in this day and age, our brother's keeper, we DO share the planet and are all interconnected in the big scheme of things.
You and your parents' long-time relationship with the cat neighbor begs the question of his needing help of some kind, and that should count for something to be done on this neighbor's behalf.
If you do nothing, the cat neighbor remains in a house that should be condemned because of hoarding and safety issues (I'm guessing), you are perpetuating the problem of cats, cats getting shot, and you risk losing a tenant which apparently you cannot afford to do because the rental income helps pay for your parents' nursing home.
Why on earth would you EVICT the tenant? Because he (rightfully) complained about the smell of cat spray/pee and the number of cats? That may land you in big trouble with the court system if the tenant wanted to take you to task for an illegal eviction.
Doing the right thing can be difficult. Sitting back and doing nothing, hoping the problem will solve itself one way or another, is easy but not really right.
The OP already stated that the neighbor is a cat hoarder and has a lot of cats and that their parents turned a blind eye.
We have no idea how many other neighbors have complained because the OP only has ONE tenant in the neighborhood..I'd bet if they went door to door they'd get a lot more.
Animal hoarders are not great owners and are usually dealing with physical and mental issues. Money is usually an issue and the animals end up neglected.
"Other neighbors have been there 20+ years with no issues w/the cats." (direct quote from OP)
Again, there is nothing to say that the owner of the cats is a "cat hoarder" apart from what the OP says and, as I said earlier, some people think more than one is a hoard. I have five and I'm not a hoarder - all of mine are rescues who are spayed, neutered, well fed and their shots are up to date.
I've no cat in this fight but I'm very distressed that this tenant would (if indeed this is true) go to the extreme of shooting pet cats in a residential neighborhood and nobody even comments on that but are very ready to declare the owner of the cats a sick hoarder whose pets should be immediately removed and either euthanized or re-housed.
The cats aren't getting a fair chance in life. They all need to be medically checked, spayed, neutered and given rabie shots. Hoarders do not genreally take care of their animals and most often, from what have seen, they often don't know when any of the cats are sick and in need of vet help.
You really do need to intervenen here. If your tenant is shooting them what do you think will happen if the tenant doesn't kill the cat and the poor animal is left suffering or worse yet if the tenant, assuming the tenant is shoot at the cats, ends up missing a targeted cat and ends up killing a human. Also losing a tenant doesn't mean you can't find another person to rent out the house to. I would look into this and make a decision as to whether or not your tenant is worth keeping if he/she is using a weapon or poison to kill them. IMO, if your tenant is that violent you need to remove him/her from the property immediately. There's no excuse for violence like that if the claim is true. I'm surprised the town officials haven't been called by a neighbor.
Call the local animal control - let them decide if the cats need to be removed or not. If the neighbor is not a hoarder, if the animals are all taken care of, then no harm done. If there IS an issue, the animal control will get the cats the care they need. I sincerely doubt that animal control is going to remove animals from a perfectly safe home.
In either case, you will be able to tell your tenant that you have done all you can do.
I would look into this and make a decision as to whether or not your tenant is worth keeping if he/she is using a weapon or poison to kill them. IMO, if your tenant is that violent you need to remove him/her from the property immediately. There's no excuse for violence like that if the claim is true. I'm surprised the town officials haven't been called by a neighbor.
Nobody knows who shot the cats. The neighbor is blaming the tenant. There is no proof. What if someone 5 doors down did this? Maybe the person 5 doors down never complained but took matters into their own hands. No fair to automatically blame the tenant.
Thank goodness our court system doesn't make someone guilty automatically without witnesses, without investigation, only using the word of one person that is placing blame without having witnessed anything. Just because the one person being blamed has a motive. To be honest, anyone that lives near the cats has motive if the cats are spraying on their property.
Just because the OP isn't privy to someone complaining in 20 years - this does NOT mean that other neighbors don't have issues with the cats. The OP's parents had issues, but chose to remain silent to avoid trouble.
Maybe someone shot the cats that has NO motive, but just had a gun and wanted to shoot something that moved. This does occur.
Maybe the cats were NOT shot - maybe they were killed by a predator and maybe to cat owner assumed they were shot. In my area, several dead and bloodied cats were showing up on a golf course. Authorities were assuming it was a person killing these cats and it was the news stories for weeks and months - each time a new dead cat appeared. Their investigation revealed an animal predator had done the killing.
SST- you seem to take anything you don't like as "we don't know the truth" and anything you do like as fact.
And this doesn't have to be hard. Call the authorities. They will determine if there is indeed a problem. Not a hoarder I imagine they get to keep the cats. They are hoarders the cats get taken away. There doesn't have to be any assumptions.
For the past 2 years we have been renting out our parents home to finance their nursing home bills. The nextdoor Neighbor (who is wheelchair bound) has been a friend of our parents since moving there 25+ years ago.
The Neighbor has cats. A lot of them. My parents never complained because they didnt want to cause problems. However, the Tenant (our 2nd) has complained since moving in about the urine smell from the cats. We have done everything we can think of to deter the cats from coming into our yard with no success. The Tenants declined the offer of humane traps.
A call was received from Neighbor. Allegedly, Tenant shot and killed 2 of the Neighbor's cats. Only hearsay as to who pulled the trigger - but judging from the number of complaints from Tenant, not unlikely it was them. Other neighbors have been there 20+ years with no issues w/the cats. When I tried to suggest that possibly there are too many cats in the neighborhood, nextdoor Neighbor got very upset.
Neither party has 'clean hands' in this. Neighbor is a cat hoarder and the cats come onto our rental property and spray. Tenant is tired of it. If I call the humane society (I am a former employee!) they will come and take Neighbors animals and possibly condem their home. If we evict the Tenants we wont have the funds for parents nursing home.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
You need to tell the neighbor that she needs to call the police, asap if she suspects this.
This is out of your realm as a mere landlord. That way the police can sort it out.
This is not something you should be the "first call " on....You sure wouldn't want to make a mistake, and be considered an accomplice of anything like this, so don't take any actions yourself. Call the police for her if she can't, and state what she said to you, and again, let the police sort this out.
Your neighbor should have called her local police, not you. This is a legal, and "law" reporting to the police situation. And being accused of animal cruelty is a felony, so you are not the judge and jury, and certainly shouldn't be put into this situation.
What will probably happen is the authorities will become involved, they will become aware of even the hoarding issues, etc.....they will sort it out.....you should not be trying to, you will be involved at some point as the landlord possibly, and you should tell the authorities that you referred your neighbor to call them.
Or, If you are at all worried, talk to an attorney asap, to find out if there is anything you should be concerned over. Your landlord tenant rights in your community will guide you if this renter is eventually charged and found guilty. These are just my opinions, not legal advice.
The neighbor called the landlord to tell that his cats where shot and he blamed the tenant. This is a complaint.
The neighbor, is complaining about the OP's tenant, and accusing said tenant of shooting her cats. The LL should refer the neighbor to the local police. The tenant evidently has been complaining. LL/OP you should have a talk w/ the humane society, if the police haven't been called, call them. This is ridiculous. Your tenant most probably didn't do anything......The lady wants them out of there cause they are probably complaining to her, since you, their LL haven't done anything. Either let the police sort it out, which is the best suggestion for all involved, imo. After, call the humane society, you of all people should. That is like a social worker neglecting to report child abuse. What are you thinking??? You also know it can be anonymous to Humane Society. If this neighbor backs out of her story when you suggest her calling the police, you'll know she is just making trouble for your tenant, thinking you'll kick them out. What a mess. Do the right thing.
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