+
=Please, if you love your cats don't let them be free range. Many people don't love them on their property and some will take steps remove them.
Posted on 05/24/2009 2:34:10 PM PDT by JoeProBono
LODI, Calif. -- A community controversy is brewing in Lodi.
A neighbor posted a sign with the words, "Hit a cat, I'll hit your kid." Some neighbors said they are concerned their children's lives are being threatened.
"Basically what this is saying is: Hit a cat and I'll hit your kid," said Tina Teixeira.
Teixeira got a lot of attention after she put the sign up in front of her West Elm Street home in Lodi.
"You don't want me to hit your kid so don't hit mine. You hurt mine, that is just like if I went over and ran over your kid. Basically, that is what I was intending," said Teixeira.
Teixeira said she decided to take action after a driver ran over and killed her cat on the bike lane on Friday.
Some parents were outraged over her cardboard note.
"Basically she is threatening to hit people's kids," said concerned neighbor Joann Larsen.
"One parent said that I was psychotic," said Teixeira.
Teixeira said she wanted to shock drivers, not harm their kids.
Teixeira said she knows her sign would upset people but she put it up because she is tired of people driving 65 mph on a 35 mph zone.
She said she noticed some cars slowing down and reading her sign so she wrote a new sign.
"After burying the cat and calming down a little bit ... (I realized) that it was a little shock value. It got attention for people, so I thought that I would put it in more understanding terms," said Teixeira.
The revised sign reads: I watch for your kids, so please watch out for mine.
"That is the whole point here is to stop hurting animals," said Teixeira.
Teixeira said she isn't shy about yelling at drivers and even her neighbors. She said she even mentioned she spit on someone to protect her cats.
Only one neighbor wanted to talk about her sign on camera. Others said they wanted to avoid any problems.
"I do like that she changed it," Larsen said.
The animal lover said she can only hope she can keep her cats from losing another life.
Teixeira said some of her feral cats don't like to stay indoors.
She said she hopes her sign will get city leaders to install speed bumps in her neighborhood, which is right near a school.
Then you’ll love my last post....feel free to use on ebay too!
Do you shoot those diseased carrying birds too? Bullies. God has a special place for them.
Many of the posts on this thread are effin sick, and very disturbing. I can’t continue to read it.
Tina Teixeira’s basic message is “respect life, be careful, and teach your children likewise.” The problem is not the ferral cats, it’s people who do not make allowances for animals, or hurt animals on purpose. Some people don’t respect life, period.
Life is seen as being cheap. And that view is shared by some of the people on this thread, as well.
Looks like it’s time for “Anti-freeze Man”.
+
=Please, if you love your cats don't let them be free range. Many people don't love them on their property and some will take steps remove them.
I have known people who claimed that they aim at any animal that they see in the street. A person would have to go out of his way to hit an animal in the bike lane, where it is illegal to drive.
After the crazy cat lady had her cat’s funeral and calmed down, she did change her sign to “I watch for your kids, so please watch out for mine.”
But her neighbors, and certainly any strangers driving through the neighborhood, are under no obligation to look after any of her pets that are running wild. That is her job and responsibility. It’s sad, but mischief as well as accidents happen to outdoor cats.
Care to explain how you came to this conclusion because I don't understand why you would call names?
The article says the cats are feral! It means they are killing and eating native animals. The humane solution is to call the animal control to remove them...
Do you have a better idea? If so, I would love to hear about it...
In a used car lot on the other side of town...
Did y’all get a nasty freepmail like I did?
I’ve seen cats eating bird heads, squirrel heads, mouse heads, and had lots of presents as a child. I personally don’t care, but it has never been an epic problem and it never will be in my ‘hood.
What is 65?? Never heard of 65. I know 80! Yes, 80 is good in California.
Seriously? I was driving my brand-new-to-me Chevy Impala 80 MPH on the 680 south in Martinez/Concord once, and I got stopped by a CHP officer. He gave me a warning for having tinted windows. Not a word about the speed.
Hit an animal deliberately? I can’t honestly say I know anyone like that, and wouldn’t want to know them if I did. I’ve run nearly off the road trying to avoid wild animals, squirrels, rabbits and such. I know it’s probably a stupid risk and possibly dangerous. But, it’s just an automatic reflex. I have no desire to kill animals while driving down the road. I’ve never hit a tame animal, and hope to never do so. I have helped dogs left for dead after being run down, taking them to the vet and searching for their people. I’ll never understand the cruelty and indifference of running down someone’s pet and leaving them to die. I guess I’m in the minority.
I still say it’s this woman’s responsibility to keep animals in her care safe, though. The blame is ultimately hers, whether the cat’s death was accidental or deliberate.
Was it 3 am?
Nope. You invented the sport LoL
Cat people are really touchy.
I hit a deer about three weeks ago. I was on a four-lane divided highway just after dark. It came seemingly out of nowhere, and I could not have swerved to miss it—there was another car on my right and a concrete barrier on my left. I braked hard, hit it anyway, and launched it over the barrier onto the other side of the highway. My beloved Honda Civic was totaled, but I walked away without a scratch.
Yes, and other birds, too. There are jays and cowbirds around here. Jays are very happy to eat baby birds in the nest. Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds' nests, and their chicks hatch first and eat the other chicks.
We have gnatcatchers that nest over our garage door and raise a brood of cowbirds, two years in a row now, before they get to fledge their own brood later in the summer.
Sorry you got the wrong impression. I wasn't saying that I agreed with them or knew them as friends. I did neither. I was just pointing out one of the many dangers, of which I'm personally aware, of letting one's pets roam free. Just sayin.'
No, but it might as well have been. It was late morning. Back then (’97 or so) off rush hour was flyin’ time on the freeways. You could try to go the limit, but you’d better be in the slow lane.
I’ve been here in Ohio for four years, and my driving habits have changed. Fifty-five is the highest limit on these country roads, and I don’t mind it at all. It’s just more peaceful here, not so hectic, and I’ve learned patience, especially for an elderly neighbor who travels at 35 down the “main” road (one lane in each direction, and double yellow most of the way) and doesn’t turn off until I’m only about two miles from home. Sigh...
I grew up in Ohio it is a slower pace.
Az is even more to my liking.
I am here in Tx and I like a lot of it, but we are getting californicated here...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.