go on then smartarse what would be the consequences

LOL extreme views like Pippas make her as bad as the man threatening to poison the cat in the first place.

I have 2 dogs and I admit I did consider spraying a cat with water the other day when it came in my garden. I thought it would be kinder to discourage it than having it injured or killed by my dogs. They have never hurt a cat before but as they are lurchers I worry that they would catch it and instinct would take over, the cat has such stumpy little legs! Im surprised that it keeps coming into my garden though, you would think the presence of dogs would discourage it. I even put up extra fencing to try and keep it out but no luck. Lovely little thing decided to thank me by pooing in my new raised vegetable bed. As if I dont have enough poo to clean up already!

I agree with you Shirlt9. Must say one of my closest friends had a neighbour complain about her cats defecating in his garden even though there were lots of others around, but she just kept them inside to avoid neighbour conflict and they are still indoors now a year later and happy and content. Plus they were free-roaming all their life previously. There goes the myth that you cant keep a previous free-roamer inside

Hi.
Its illigal what he is doing....fact!
Get him reported, all he has to do is put de icer down and cats love it but is deadly and the outcome is hurrendous!
I would knock on his door and say....i dont agree with poison and it is illigal so if thats what you are doing, i will report you.
I dont think he will know its illigal...especialy if he is old!
Good luck x

Just to say I recently met an old chap, and happened to mention the word cat. It was like lighting the blue touchpaper. He went into a lengthy rant against uncontrolled cats. Turns out he was a keen gardener and was of the same opinion as the OPs neighbour. Difference was this chap proudly confessed to having caught one of the offending animals and drowning it in his pond. So beware, cat-owners. Your animals are at risk.
P.S. - I have kept multiple cats for many years, originally free-roaming, but since having them all go down with a horrendous unexplained illness of which one died (I suspect poisoning) I now keep them indoors.

It's strange all these stories being reported about cats being poisoned or threatened. I don't know anyone who's had this problem and I know a lot of people with cats. I work in a huge department where a large proportion of the 70+ (educated ) staff own free roaming cats. Some of the stories on this thread are, I believe, just scare-mongering tactics or 'convenient' anecdotes to support the indoor brigade's agenda.

I do believe that some cats are deliberately poisoned by cat haters, It's reported in the press often enough. I just don't believe the problem is as widespread as some would have us believe. Luckily, It's not a problem that's ever potentially going to affect me as I seem to be the only neighbour in my vicinity who cares about their garden.

I know that some cats can adjust to an indoor life if necessary but my late Tabitha never would have - she was only really happy when she could get outside and I would never have deprived her of that experience, even when she was dying. I also care more about my cats than about pleasing my neighbours and I'm not sure why some people feel that is wrong I know from reading all the threads on nuisance neighbours that most people would love to have me as a neighbour as I am so quiet and helpful - even if they hated cats.... the benefits would far outweigh any minor hassle with the occasional visiting cat.

You are probably right, Marella K. It isnt that prevalent, and it's a good thing you feel comfortable where you live. it's just that when you are aware of something awful happening close to home it does make you think. I never would have believed that apparently 'respectable' intelligent middle-class people were capable of such base and vile acts such as the one this old gentleman confessed to. People should be aware that these things do happen.
My neighbours have free-roaming cats, and as far as I know nothing untoward has happened to them, if you don't count the kittens they tried to drown themselves which they dumped in my bin.
Its very much a personal decision how people keep their animals, and there's no right or wrong about it. But there's no harm in being aware so that you can make an informed decision.
ecision.

I dont know how anyone could live with themselves doing something to an animal because it had pooed. But there are ways to find out, you speak to the local youngsters that hang about and they usually are pretty clued up on local stuff, for a start.

Marella Im the OP and assure you this situation is true! Im actually quite worried about it so its a bit harsh to say ive made it up. If I end up having to go to the police ill give you the crime ref number

Evil neighbours

I am a cat lover but shoo cats from my garden if they misbehave

Not all indoor cat owners have an agenda i do it for the benefits of my cats which are not an outdoor breed and since i dont mind changing their litter tray on a regular basis and using a high quality litter it isn't a issue

I didn't say you made it up. Where did I say that
Some of the stories on this thread (from known 'outdoor' cat haters) are rather convenient but I have no doubt, from reading threads on DS, that some people hate cats and that your story is true.

However, I am surprised you haven't yet reported the matter to the police (or RSPCA?). If anybody threatened any of my cats I would contact my community police team immediately, I would not want to expose my cats to any potential danger even if I considered the threat to be not that serious. These people need to know that cats have a legal right to roam and that people can be prosecuted if they deliberately and maliciously try to harm a cat. My local police are very supportive with any issues we have, I have contacted them a lot in the past about some of the behaviour of local kids in the neighbourhood - they have a chat with them and the parents and the problem is usually resolved. The police are there to support us and promote the law.

Can 'cat' people really not understand some of the animosity toward outdoor cats??

Cat are allowed to roam, crap in kids' sand boxes, terrorise other pets/wildlife etc, cause noise by fighting and shagging all night and should someome's dog injure a cat that has roamed into the dog's garden, then both dog and owner could end up in trouble.

Cats carry disease too, can inflict injury and kill other pets and yet it's usually dogs that are demonised.

It may not happen in your area but it sure happens in some!

Your attitude is quite the correct one to have. It's nice to read someone shares my opinions on the matter. In recent days I feel like I've been witch hunted by the cat haters. I must say that cat (or any animal) cruelty is something that really, really makes me angry and I'm quite a placid person so that says something.

God help anyone who I see ill treating/frightening my cats.

Edit: Or any cats for that matter.

I agree with you completely. With the number of pet cats increasing because they can roam free and left to their own come-and-go devices which is convenient for the owner, this is not an issue that is going to go away, as much as some want

Nobody expects you to please your neighbours, but you shouldn't be too surprised if there are consequences if you somehow displease them.


Do you think it is likely that someone would threaten to harm your cat before doing so? I think they'd be very discrete.

I think you're a WUM. Trying to coax cat lovers into a reaction? How grown up...

If your cat wanders into my garden then I have every right to scare it off, why should my cat have to suffer or get into a fight because your cat comes into my garden.

My neighbours displease me in many ways but I, like most normal decent (and educated) people keep within the law. On occasions I have called the police to deal with local kids kicking their football against my house. However, I keep quiet about other annoying issues and, generally, I am an excellent neighbour and I know most people would rather have a quiet, sensible and helpful person as a neighbour than some of the noisy neighbours that many people have and complain about frequently on the GD forum. I am not defined solely by my cat owing status.........

As for the second point, well, this whole thread is about an open threat that the OP's neighbour made against her cat. Have you not read the title? Obviously, I could only react to and report an open threat.

However, I do not believe that the problem of deliberate and malicious harming of cats is as widespread as reports would have us believe, These stories do serve to scare owners into keeping their cats confined indoors to a rather boring existence. Most of us normal folk work and can't be at home all day to entertain our cats - I don't think we are lazy as some of the indoor brigade claim, just practical hardworking people. I have owned free roaming cats for many years as have many of my family, friends and colleagues (most of us educated professional people) and I don't know anyone who's had a cat poisoned. However, in my childhood on my family farm, several dogs were poisoned by local farmers trying to deter predators. This practice is now against the law in Ireland and people can be prosecuted for it.

As the law stands, cats are allowed to free roam and the people who are breaking the law are those people who hurt cats deliberately. I have no problem with people shooing or throwing water at visiting cats. I had to shoo away a visiting cat from my own garden last night because he was giving my Millie a hard time.

In the meanwhile, while it's never been an issue for me in the areas where I have lived, I will continue to give my lovely cats the life they need, as cats. They are cats after all, not indoor objects for my pleasure and convenience.

you realise that you sound like a nutter ?

I can understand animosity towards cats. A minority of people don't like them but, in my experience, people who have always disliked cats often change their opinions when they end up living with someone with cats. I know lots of people who now love cats, having previously disliked them because they have got to know that cats are not the aloof, arrogant, 'superior' creatures they may come across as on first impressions.

The law is the law, cats generally don't do much harm by visiting gardens and all wildlife need to defaecate, including birds, squirrels, hedgehogs, frogs and foxes, all of whom come into my garden. I love dogs, they get a bad press, but dogs can kill young children which cats generally don't.

Cats shouldn't carry disease if they are vaccinated against them by responsible owners. If they are diseased, blame humans not the cats.

You always try to make it sound like anyone who hates cat poo in their garden must hate cats when many of us love them just hate what they leave behind. I love cats and dogs but I don't want either of them leaving poo in my garden, I don't mind clearing up after my dogs but I don't want responsibility for everyone elses.

Not just cats defaecate in gardens, As I said, I get visitors to my garden such as squirrels, the odd fox, hedgehogs, frogs and birds. It is a bit annoying having to clear up cat poo but I don't get myself stressed by it. I suppose I am a much more practical and pragmatic person than many people here, I was brought up in the country and our fields were littered with cow pats. I work as a nurse so am very familiar with human poo which is a lot more disgusting than any cat poo