No the question is if I should let an irresponsible pet owner dictate to me that I must act to overcome their negligent and irresponsible acts and attitude by having to put a cover on my kids sandbox. My answer is simply, NO WAY IN HE11. Your cat, your responsibility. Period. On my property your cat needs to be someplace else. I do not like cats and do not own any because of it. Why do you think that any other person has some right to impose their cat on me or that it should be allowed to roam freely on my property? You can not get past these questions because there is no justification or legal argument that can make these things right. If my dogs were out chasing deer I would shoot them myself. The deer as well as the birds are protected by state laws. Why do cat owners think that their kitty can go out and kill protected birds? They let them outside or keep them outside and enable them kill protected birds. That is an admitted fact well established by comments in this thread of posts. If my dogs got out and killed a deer the state fish and game would have me in court paying a big fine. Cat owners who's cats hunt and kill birds should be treated in the same exact manner. At the bottom of this is the belief by many that cats should be treated differently than dogs and other pets. BS. If I'm held responsible to keep my dogs at home then exactly the same should be required of cat owners. No excuses or BS rationalizations are accepted. What is good for one must be good for the other.
> No the question is if I should let an irresponsible pet owner dictate to me that...
The pet owner doesn’t “dictate” to you. I agree that the owner has been irresponsible, but the choice of what to do when the cat is in the sandbox is yours. I’d prefer to put a cover on it myself. If your conscience is ok with killing people’s pets, though — and society allows it (apparently not, in this case) — then fine.