Having to have planning permission to keep a cat is definitely a thought......
Here is another problem for cat owners: You can't increase the height of many fences without the requirement for planning approval.
When I work on buildings that have bats in them planning rules insist that my clients have to pay for bat surveys at a cost of a few thousand pounds, they have to apply for a protected species licence to do any work that might affect the bats, another few thousand, they have to provide new homes for any bats that are found which can be anything from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands. Then after all that outlay we have to design the bat access points to deter cats because there is no rule to stop people letting their cats harm rare, protected species. Once a cat has learned where a bat access point is they have been shown to revisit it repeatedly for the fun of catching the emerging bats.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Millie - Those are certain steps in the right direction.
Why is it cats (and I suppose domesticated pigeons) are the ONLY pets allowed to roam free without concern or control?
I don't want anyone else's pet in my garden. The neighbors goats got out several years ago and gave three newly planted fruit trees the Chelsea chop.. I didn't like it. My other neighbors dog comes over occasionally and takes a dump in my front garden.. I don't like it. Next door neighbors chickens get out occasionally and throw my bark mulch all over the place.. I don't like that either. Neighborhood cat tootsie rolls in my veg garden.. I really don't like it.
The goat owner apologized profusely, and offered to replace the trees. My neighbor yells at his dog and picks up the poo if/when he catches it happening. My next door neighbor makes me cookies each time her chickens come over and throw my bark mulch around. Not once have I had a neighborhood cat owner show any concern for their outdoor cats activities or where-abouts.. or the 'surprises' they are leaving behind in other peoples gardens.
I'm not anti-cat. If you want one, great.. keep it in your garden.. same as any other pet owner is expected to do.
There have been a lot of wild generalisation on both the pro and anti cat sides. I have been into houses which have absolutely stunk of cats, likewise dogs and smoke. I have also been into houses where cats, dogs and smokers live where there has been no smell.
The common factor being that those properties in the latter group are occupied by people who actually do care for their pets, their property, and their visitors.
Nobody who doesn't own a cat should have to put up with cat mess in their gardens and should be permitted to take whatever course of action is necessary to stop it, in the same way that animals worrying livestock can be 'controlled'. Cat mess is a danger to life as has been previously detailed in this topic.
@aureliecelerier - I appreciate your passion on the topic.. I certainly agree a cat is happiest roaming around doing their thing outdoors, then coming inside to a plate of Fancy Feast and a warm radiator shelf.
I hate seeing animals caged up without the space they need. I refuse to take my family to the zoo as an acre of concrete in a desert is not a place for a polar bear, tiger, and very few other 'wild' animals. I will not support it with my patronage. A large number of people in our town keep hunting dogs.. lion dogs, as they are called, because they mainly use them for hunting mountain lions in the hills around here. These dogs are kept in kennels for 99% of their life.. only taken out to hunt on the occasional weekend for a few months out of the year. It makes me sick to my stomach, thinking about the quality of life for those poor animals. So I certainly get your point about allowing the true nature of cats.
I don't agree with you that cats should be free to roam around, as discussed.. but I do appreciate you joining in (and sticking around) on our lively debate.
This is getting messy now with 2 threads but with things like the hosepipe ban I imagine they're regarded as soft laws. More intended to reduce usage than actually stop it because like you say it's impossible to enforce without a lot of big brother activity and neighbours shopping each other in. It does have some effect though so potentially it could work with cats.
When you're talking about an expanding population of 8 million cats and assuming 1 million of those are feral then there is a lot of work that could be done. A big push now to neuter as many cats as possible would reduce the numbers of kittens needing rescuing in the near future for example. Dealing with all the feral cats would be a huge untertaking alone though.
Awareness campaigns are fine but at a time when I get 3 or 4 awareness campaigns emailed to me every day I'd question what effect it could have. As this thread shows most cat owners don't consider that their pet is causing any harm until it can be demonstrated to them that it does happen. I still see people using a lot of plastic bags despite the huge awareness campaigns and bag tax that is trying to stop it happening and that is a really easy problem to sort out if people are willing to put the effort in.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
How about contacting the fence manufacturers and suggesting they add cat proofing to some of their boards as an option to buy? It could be a successful marketing opportunity.
That seems more plausible than legislation which will not and can't solve the overall problem. It would also mean that cat lovers who don't want to keep their cats indoors have options.
Probably a daft suggestion, and totally unworkable.
An extract from a discussion about cats and the law that was published by the University of Lincoln.
Please read the top three and bottom two lines and ignore the footnotes inbetween.
Trespass is only a very small area of the law remember. Just because a cat can't 'trespass' doesn't mean it's always legal for it to be on other property. It is illegal for a cat owner to allow their pet to pose a risk to health, cause nuisance or pose a threat to livestock. If it causes damage to property the owner is also liable. Obviously most of the above are usually at such low levels that people are unlikley to want to pay legal fees and go to the hassle of trying to get it sorted out through the courts and just have to grit their teeth and bare it.
For example the box hedge on my drive has 2 plants missing due to cats spraying on them but I can't prove whose cat caused the damage. I often get pots knocked over where cats jump the fence or walk across shelves. Without cameras everywhere how would I know which cat smashed what pot and am I really going to argue with the neighbour over it? To go to court for health risk I'd need to DNA test cat poo and get all the owners to agree to getting their cats checked to find out who did the crime. It's never going to happen.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Posts
Here is another problem for cat owners: You can't increase the height of many fences without the requirement for planning approval.
When I work on buildings that have bats in them planning rules insist that my clients have to pay for bat surveys at a cost of a few thousand pounds, they have to apply for a protected species licence to do any work that might affect the bats, another few thousand, they have to provide new homes for any bats that are found which can be anything from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands. Then after all that outlay we have to design the bat access points to deter cats because there is no rule to stop people letting their cats harm rare, protected species. Once a cat has learned where a bat access point is they have been shown to revisit it repeatedly for the fun of catching the emerging bats.
Why is it cats (and I suppose domesticated pigeons) are the ONLY pets allowed to roam free without concern or control?
I don't want anyone else's pet in my garden. The neighbors goats got out several years ago and gave three newly planted fruit trees the Chelsea chop.. I didn't like it. My other neighbors dog comes over occasionally and takes a dump in my front garden.. I don't like it. Next door neighbors chickens get out occasionally and throw my bark mulch all over the place.. I don't like that either. Neighborhood cat tootsie rolls in my veg garden.. I really don't like it.
The goat owner apologized profusely, and offered to replace the trees. My neighbor yells at his dog and picks up the poo if/when he catches it happening. My next door neighbor makes me cookies each time her chickens come over and throw my bark mulch around. Not once have I had a neighborhood cat owner show any concern for their outdoor cats activities or where-abouts.. or the 'surprises' they are leaving behind in other peoples gardens.
I'm not anti-cat. If you want one, great.. keep it in your garden.. same as any other pet owner is expected to do.
I hate seeing animals caged up without the space they need. I refuse to take my family to the zoo as an acre of concrete in a desert is not a place for a polar bear, tiger, and very few other 'wild' animals. I will not support it with my patronage. A large number of people in our town keep hunting dogs.. lion dogs, as they are called, because they mainly use them for hunting mountain lions in the hills around here. These dogs are kept in kennels for 99% of their life.. only taken out to hunt on the occasional weekend for a few months out of the year. It makes me sick to my stomach, thinking about the quality of life for those poor animals. So I certainly get your point about allowing the true nature of cats.
I don't agree with you that cats should be free to roam around, as discussed.. but I do appreciate you joining in (and sticking around) on our lively debate.
That seems more plausible than legislation which will not and can't solve the overall problem. It would also mean that cat lovers who don't want to keep their cats indoors have options.
Probably a daft suggestion, and totally unworkable.
Would this work?