Posted on 02/10/2010 9:12:06 PM PST by myknowledge
At least where I live, the requirement is that they wear a current rabies tag any time they're outside. The rabies tag is traceable to the vet who did the vaccination, who will also have a record of the owner's identity and the cat's spay/neuter status. If anyone complains about a stray cat, and animal control finds it's untagged, it's going to get carted off to the shelter. If it's micro-chipped, or if the owner realizes the cat is missing and picks it up at the shelter before its 3 day hold it up, the cat will get home, but the owner will be paying a fine that costs more than a spay/neuter *and* they won't get the cat back until it's spayed or neutered at their own expense. There are some cats roaming around my neighborhood without tags, but not many, and they're probably strays. At least half of the cats I've encountered helping themselves to the bowl of cat food I keep on the porch, have had tags (rabies and also cat's name/owner's phone number). I'm not the only person on my block who carts unfixed cats off to the vet for a fixing and rabies shot -- fortunately my neighborhood has enough people who care and can spare the money, that the cat situation has never gotten out of control. More than one cat "owner" on my block has unexpectedly discovered that Fluffy lost part of his/her anatomy while away from home. I don't ask permission even if I know who the "owner" is -- it's illegal for the cat to be outside if it's not fixed.
If a cat is neutered as a kitten, they don’t stink. If you wait till they achieve adukthood, they retain some stink and marking territory actions.
Or.....the vet botched the operation. It happens...
Yes, and I do my part. I’ve adopted some strays, and gotten some semi-strays fixed, and I keep a bowl of dry cat food on my back porch (great for luring cats in close enough to find out if they’re fixed).
People caught dumping pets should be hauled off to the animal shelter and kept in a cage eating dog or cat food for a week or so. And then fined big time on their way out.
Mine generally don't go far, though I had one some years back who was a roamer. He was quite a character and had lots of people friends all over the neighborhood. I met quite a few neighbors though that cat, when they called the number on his tag to make sure he wasn't lost. It depends where you live of course -- if I was in an area with foxes or coyotes, or right next to a big highway, I'd build them a big outdoor enclosure and not let them run free. But in an ordinary suburban neighborhood, it's really not hard to keep them close to home. The cat door is always open, so they're not locked out and roaming around looking for food or shelter. There's a little fake pond with a fountain in backyard, replaced with a heated water bowl in winter, so there are always lot of birds and other wildife for entertainment. Plus we throw bird seed in the driveway every day, so it's like non-stop kitty TV (if any of my cats show a propensity to catch birds, they promptly get a nice loud bell attached to their collar, which puts a stop to catching any birds that nature intended to survive and reproduce). And a couple of years ago, we added a little bed of catnip near the back door and cat door. With the exception of the one now-departed roamer, my cats don't go any farther than immediately adjacent properties. Since they always have a tag with my phone number, if they were bothering anybody, the person would call me. But in 20 years living in the same house, I've never gotten a call complaining about any of my cats -- just lots of calls checking to make sure the cat isn't lost (especially from the roamer, who was *really* good at doing the poor lonesome lost kitty act to get the non-stop attention he craved).
There are several bacterial/enzyme products sold today that will consume the smelly organic part of pet and people urine. Anti-Icky-Poo (sic) is one which I have used with great success. As long as some moisture is present, the bacteria multiply and follow the source of odor, consuming it as they go, then they die. The bacteria used does not infect pets or persons.
I wonder if the cat might have had an undescended testicle that the vet left in place because it would have required more extensive surgery to reach (or maybe the vet couldn’t even tell if there was one present or not). If the cat was neutered at a shelter or through one of the super-low cost spay/neuter programs, this is a real possibility.
Dogs have owners; cats have staff.
Also, it could also invite someone who happens to stumble upon a stray cat to play with it, then abuse it and kill it.
It has been proven that cats dream and that they can reason.
And my walking down the street could invite someone to mug me. Really, we try not to tolerate things like that.
LOL
A 17 HMR should be safer and less prone to ricochet than a 40 gr 22 Long Rifle.
The trajectory for a 17HMR Hornaday 17 gr Bullet (Muzzle Velocity of 2550 fps) with a scope height of 1.5" sighted in for 125yds is 0.94" high at 75 yds, on at 125 and 1.22" low at 150 yds.
For shooting where noise may be a factor the Gamo Whisper Air Rifle .177 caliber is very quiet, per field testing.
I can’t believe we’ve sunk to such a level that police and our “justice” system have to waste their time on a man who did the right thing.
What is this—Nazi Germany, where you could be arrested for cooking a live lobster?
Well then--other stray cats should learn from this episode, that they shouldn't pee on people's property.
Stray cats pee on woodpiles the world over in memory of this cat.
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