Posted on 07/04/2023 1:03:49 PM PDT by Morgana
Two neighbors at war with each other have dug a trench and lined it with a fence and bins to divide their properties after they fell out over one residents' alleged obsession with feeding local cats.
John Gutierrez, 33, a stay-at-home father from San Antonio, Texas, claims the woman living next door has repeatedly harassed his family and shouted abuse at his children while they play in their garden.
Gutierrez said he had a good relationship with his neighbor until he asked the elderly woman to stop feeding the local cats as they defecated on his lawn - a request she did not respond well to.
The woman called the police repeatedly on Gutierrez and his family, he claimed.
Gutierrez explained that after visiting the property and discussing the dispute with the two neighbors, the police recommended they put up a fence to divide the property line.
The father said: 'On one of the many times she called the police, they told us both that we should look at getting a fence or something to divide the property line because we have a shared fence in the backyard and I have my trash cans between the dividing fence and my gate.'
Gutierrez said the elderly neighbor decided to take it one step further and built a trench between the properties.
'She decided to kind of "eyeball the property line" and dig that trench so we have a physical line that neither of us can cross,' he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Come one she's a old woman with only her cats for company give her some peace and quiet, and keep your kids off her lawn.
kitty ping.
I knew people like this growing up. Old timers who did not want kids on their lawn. Our parents just told us to respect them and stay away from them. If anything happened our parents handled it but not like this. People are so entitled these days.
So, it’s a cat fight right?
> Come one she’s a old woman with only her cats for company give her some peace and quiet… <
Well, yes. The neighbor has no right to tell the lady what to do on her own property. If she wants to feed stray cats, she can feed stray cats.
And if the neighbor doesn’t like the cats pooping on his property, he can put up a fence. It’s just as simple as that.
I despise crazy cat ladies. They are not nice neighbors.
What she is doing on her property is negatively affecting his property.
If they are her cats she has no rights for them to roam onto his property and crap all over it.
So he does have a right to try to correct it and stop it.
Especially if there are leash laws that apply, or feeding ferals laws.
Its not necessarily the FEEDING, its the cats using his backyard as a bathroom because she is feeding them that is the issue.
Will she come over and pick up all the cat crap? Its her direct actions causing this.
She isn’t just feeder her cats, she is feeding feral cats, which means she isn’t feeding them in her house but is just putting food outside. When you put feed out for feral cats, you attract an ever-increasing number of cats, and also raccoons and opossums. I doubt she is standing out there watching the cats eating every morsel and making sure it is only cats, most of the time people just leave food out all the time. And, these cats that are lured in won’t be vaccinated for rabies or feline leukemia or anything, so by drawing them into close proximity, the odds of a sick one passing a disease to others is extremely high.
It may be the crap on his lawn is not just cat crap but also opossum and coon crap, and coon crap is particularly full of nasty stuff.
It is like bird feeders...bird feeding to excess is a problem because leaving seed out overnight draws rats, mice, coons,possums and squrrels.
And for the animals the dependency that feeding creates can ultimately cost them their freedom, making them very easy to trap. It isn’t as kind or harmless as people think.
It may be she is only putting a little out, but if this was just her feeding her own cats it probably would not have escalated to this point.
It may be time for him to buy some Kitty Kandy and leaving them some specially seasoned After Dinner Mints in his yard, since they have decided to repeatedly invade and vacate their kitty bowels on his property.
I wouldn’t want my children playing in a yard filled with poop from feral cats my neighbor keeps feeding. Too bad she’s always spying on him because there are easy ways to rid her of the cats.....
It's one thing to feed your own cats. Feeding feral cats is a bad idea.
Cat ladies very often have Cat Lady Disease: Toxoplasmosis. Truly a scary
disease because it takes over your brain. This disease actually compels you
to render service to cats.
Those particular type of fences (about 4 feet high with wires that can be climbed on) are easily climbed over by any cat that isn’t geriatric. Probably need picket type that are 6 or 7 feet high. Also if there’s a tree nearby, cats climb trees easily. No problem has been solved IMHO.
I wouldnt do it. Its not the animals’ fault. Its the person.
Um, cats can jump fences or go around them. Once they find a spot they like...skies the limit.
I’m sure there is some kind of ordinance she is breaking. She is creating a nuisance by feeding stray cats. Just keep calling the animal control or whomever controls that issue in their town. Once she has to start paying out of her pocket, well, then she might stop.
I’ve dealt with issues like this and with people who are extremely evil in their actions, and once you “compromise” with their bullying tactics, you lose and it gets worse. They step up their attacks.
Our local cops hated coming by-she called them quite often, after the second visit one of the sheriffs gave us their card and said to call her direct if she does anything at all. The sheriffs were considering charging her with harassment and calling police without cause.
It mellowed a bit, but you could tell she was always pissed when she saw us. Heck, we just wanted to use our backyard but after all the things she did, we were afraid that she was going to try and poison our dogs. We never got to use the backyard and left three years ago.
> What she is doing on her property is negatively affecting his property. <
True that. But that’s not the overriding point here. Freedom is. Just as I have every right to put a dozen plastic pink flamingos in my front yard. That might negatively affect other property values. It would be very thoughtless of me. Even spiteful. No matter. It’s my property.
> Especially if there are leash laws that apply, or feeding ferals laws. <
Ah, yes. And here we would agree. At some point this lady might be breaking a reasonable law. Then it’s no longer a freedom thing.
Don’t care. They are mean and nasty to deal with. I already know about t.gondii. its not an absolving excuse anyway.
Cats don’t defecate on lawns.
They dig a hole first, go in the hole and bury it.
It’s instinctual behavior all cats have.
She is infringing on his rights.
You first example sucks. If the cats were like your flmaingoes and stayed in her yard, no issue.
The cats arent flamingoes stuck in the ground, they come over and crap all over his yard. She doesn’t clean up their messes like pet owners have to docfor their animals.
Good trenches make good neighbors.
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