Cat Killer?

[raina04]

What is the name of your state? California

I have become close friends with a neighbor that moved into our neighborhood about 2 years ago. She told me that when she moved in, her nearest neighbor told her, "If I catch your cats in my yard, I will take them to the river and drown them." (She has a trap in her back yard to catch them.) A month later, the cats disappeared and they found them in a bag, drowned, at the river. They called the cops and that's the last they heard on the issue.

A year ago in December, I had a cat we rescued from the pound. The cat recently disappeared for 4 days, came home, and two days later started getting sick. I took him to the vet and was told it "appeared" he had liver disease. He died 2 days later. I didn't think otherwise until recently.

4 months ago, I adopted a new cat; very healthy. The cat disappeared 6 days ago. I found him at the pound. This woman had trapped him and called the pound to come get him. He came home and 2 days later, started getting sick with the same symptoms as the first cat that died. He will see the vet first thing tomorrow if I don't find him dead first. Now what I'm wondering is if this woman is poisoning the cats rather than drowning them. If so, what can I legally do? I know someone has to "SEE" her do something to the cats before anyone can press charges, but there must be something I can do. If there is nothing I can do legally to make her pay, how can I go about warning others in the neighborhood of her psychotic behavior without getting myself in trouble with the law?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

What is the name of your state? California

I have become close friends with a neighbor that moved into our neighborhood about 2 years ago. She told me that when she moved in, her nearest neighbor told her, "If I catch your cats in my yard, I will take them to the river and drown them." (She has a trap in her back yard to catch them.) A month later, the cats disappeared and they found them in a bag, drowned, at the river. They called the cops and that's the last they heard on the issue.

A year ago in December, I had a cat we rescued from the pound. The cat recently disappeared for 4 days, came home, and two days later started getting sick. I took him to the vet and was told it "appeared" he had liver disease. He died 2 days later. I didn't think otherwise until recently.

4 months ago, I adopted a new cat; very healthy. The cat disappeared 6 days ago. I found him at the pound. This woman had trapped him and called the pound to come get him. He came home and 2 days later, started getting sick with the same symptoms as the first cat that died. He will see the vet first thing tomorrow if I don't find him dead first. Now what I'm wondering is if this woman is poisoning the cats rather than drowning them. If so, what can I legally do? I know someone has to "SEE" her do something to the cats before anyone can press charges, but there must be something I can do. If there is nothing I can do legally to make her pay, how can I go about warning others in the neighborhood of her psychotic behavior without getting myself in trouble with the law?

My response:

You can not say, or do, anything until you have proof of your allegations. If you want to set up a video camera, pointed at the traps, you can do that. However, that still won't prove there's poison in the bait food.

Which brings me to my next point. You never said in which county this is happening. In Los Angeles, for example, under the Municipal Code, a person needs a permit to trap wild or domestic animals on their property. People cannot, willy-nilly set out traps.
So, call your local dog pound or Humane Society and ask if there's a Municipal Code on the subject. If so, find out if she has a permit, and if not, have her cited for the illegal traps.

IAAL

 

[ccarter]

raina
I have no idea from a legal stand point, but I would definitely call the local humane society and ask their thoughts on this woman's alleged actions.

 

[raina04]

Thank you both for your responses. When I found the cat at the pound, they told me a neighborhood resident (well-known to them) with their own trap (not SPCA issued) had trapped him. They said there is nothing I can do to prevent this from happening again-UNLESS I see her abusing the animals. This woman was once mayor of our town and I have a feeling she knows the laws and how far she can stretch them. We live within city limits. There are NO wild animals around here. Only domesticated pets. You would think there would be a law against trapping people's pets and/or setting up traps where there are no wild animals present. Anyway, again, thank you both for responding. Is there anything here that I can do to prevent this from happening to (or at least warning) other neighbors without her suing me for libel or slander? I just want to protect our neighbors and it really angers me that a criminal can get away with things because there is no way to catch them at it without stalking them...which I am not about to do. I only want to use the law to my advantage like she has (while being completely legal). Let me ask you this, if you had to explain to your 4 year old daughter that her cat was dead (without explaining why), what would YOU do besides sitting back and keeping quiet?

Again, thank you.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Thank you both for your responses. When I found the cat at the pound, they told me a neighborhood resident (well-known to them) with their own trap (not SPCA issued) had trapped him. They said there is nothing I can do to prevent this from happening again-UNLESS I see her abusing the animals. This woman was once mayor of our town and I have a feeling she knows the laws and how far she can stretch them. We live within city limits. There are NO wild animals around here. Only domesticated pets. You would think there would be a law against trapping people's pets and/or setting up traps where there are no wild animals present. Anyway, again, thank you both for responding. Is there anything here that I can do to prevent this from happening to (or at least warning) other neighbors without her suing me for libel or slander? I just want to protect our neighbors and it really angers me that a criminal can get away with things because there is no way to catch them at it without stalking them...which I am not about to do. I only want to use the law to my advantage like she has (while being completely legal). Let me ask you this, if you had to explain to your 4 year old daughter that her cat was dead (without explaining why), what would YOU do besides sitting back and keeping quiet?

Again, thank you.

My response:

You're making too many assumption about her, and her knowledge of the law. Believe me, mayors are not necessarily versed in the law. Hell, even Marion Barry, mayor of Washington D.C. was arrested! Stop making assumptions of what she knows or doesn't know.

Do as I have suggested. That's your only real hope.

IAAL

 

[hmmbrdzz]

OK here's my two cents worth, and it's based on what I know about animal control laws in our town (in NC, far from your state!) In our town, though, there is a "cat leash law" (this does not mean the cat has to wear a collar or literally be "leashed" when outside, but it does mean the cat cannot wander off the owner's property). Under this leash law, anyone can trap cats on their premises IF (and only if) the trap is provided by animal control (and they will provide cat traps for that purpose). When the cat is trapped legally, animal control picks it up, three days are allowed for the owner to claim it or else the animal is euthanised. If the cat is claimed, the owner must show proof of rabies and pay a fine to get the cat back. If the cat is not up to date on rabies vaccine, fines go up and the animal has to be quarantined (impounded) for a specified amount of time. (It can be very expensive for the cat owner).

You definitely should find out about cat ordinance in your area. You can call the the police or animal control, and they can tell you if there is one and what it requires of the owner. Keep kitty inside tonight! She can poison them easily with antifreeze-baited food -- very deadly. (Mean ole witch.)

Good luck.

hmmbrdzz

 

[ccarter]

I say you forget animal control, the cops, and just bake her a nice little "treat"....lol.

 

[hmmbrdzz]

I say you forget animal control, the cops, and just bake her a nice little "treat"....lol.

Good one!

hmmbrdzz

 

[aloha43]

I also have a neighbor who has threatened to kill my cats while screaming at my 14 year old son. When I called the sheriff, he said that cats are not considered domestic animals and that they could do nothing. (Northern California)
I am so disgusted in our law enforcement right now.

Read the post "Is it illegal to take pictures in our windows" and you'll see what I'm going through with my neighbor.

I'm really sorry to hear about your cats......that woman is horrible.

The idea of video surveillance is a great idea, wait till you read what I've endured.....

Good Luck

 

[cbg]

My cats stay indoors. They can go out on the screened in porch during appropriate weather conditions but otherwise they stay inside. They have a litter box in each bathroom. They don't take any harm from this and since this has been their way of life since kittenhood, they don't miss going outside. In fact, my younger cat is frightened of "outside"; it's too big and open for him.

I know there are people who violently disagree with this but it is my opinion, that of my vet and that of the shelter where I got my youngest cat that indoor cats live longer and stay healthier. For verification I point out that two of my cats lived to be over eighteen years old, and my brother in law's cat, who also stays indoors, just died at the age of almost twenty.

As long as I lived anywhere near this woman, I would keep my cats in the house where she couldn't get near them.

 

[hmmbrdzz]

I also have a neighbor who has threatened to kill my cats while screaming at my 14 year old son. When I called the sheriff, he said that cats are not considered domestic animals and that they could do nothing. (Northern California)
I am so disgusted in our law endorcement right now.

Read the post "Is it illegal to take pictures in our windows" and you'll see what I'm going through with my neighbor.

I'm really sorry to hear about your cats......that woman is horrible.

The idea of video surveillance is a great idea, wait till you read what I've endured.....

Good Luck

Hi Aloha: I read earlier in the week what you have endured with your neighbor, and it sounds horrible! I would love to hear you post back and tell us that picture snapper leaned a bit too much and broke the fence and busted her a**.

Just a quick story here for this cat topic. We have a "feral cat law" here that covers feral cat problems (cats that have no owners and are deemed "not domesticated" but rather deemed "colony cats". The typical animal control laws cannot be applied to them here. We became overpopulated with ferals at the beach (I'm talking 20 to 25 unspayed and unneutered cats, kittens, young, old, sitting on porchs and hiding in dunes waiting for morsels and reproducing). Animal control would not touch them because they were considered "feral" (and somewhat protected). After property owners took this matter to beach officials and pushed and pushed and pushed, a "cat round-up" was finally coordinated last year with our States University, School of Vet Med. They came with a surgical mobile unit and spend several days in our area alone -- trapping, spaying, and neutering on site and then transporting these feral cats to new homes (usually volunteer farmers inland who needed cats on their farms for rodent control). As I recall, the number of cats they rounded up in this particular beach county was over 350. Prrrrrty cool.

hmmbrdzz

 

[AmosMoses]

If you keep your cats inside, they will do fine. Short of that, there is absolutely nothing you can do to really assure their safety. Most people do not poison AND trap animals. This would be the first occasion I have heard about where someone baited a trap with poison bait. This lady probably feels what she is doing is just fine, and she most likely will continue. Cats may be getting on her car, whatever, I don't know, but she obviously doesn't want them on her property. If she removes the traps, she will likely then most assuredy put out poison, the easiest available being anti-freeze. It's sweet, and many animals will lick it, even placed inadvertently as when a radiator is drained, it's spilled, etc. Enough ingested at once can be toxic as such, but more likely it is metabolized into (as best as I can recall) oxalic acid (or something like that), creating havoc on the kidneys a few days later. Now, as IAAL aptly and correctly pointed out, this lady does not necessarily know the law, but most people do know that if they are going to do something even possibly illegal that they should be as dicreet as they are able to be. So, if it is brought to her attention that her actions may be looked into concerning this situation, instead of a trap she may in the future simply "spill" some anti-freeze . . .

So, I do know that the only way that you can keep your animals safe is to keep them in your home and/or on your property, whatever it takes to accomplish this. Some people are mean, and if this is the case with this lady, she may have been telling her neighbor about catching/drowning her cats simply for "fun". However, many people like this simply don't want any animals in their yard due to the mess, walking on a newly washed car, you know. They don't have animals for this reason, and they don't want to clean up after anyone else's. So, the drowning threat may have simply been a crude caveat to possibly prevent any future problems. Animals are animals, and have no idea of the consequences of their actions. They can't help it. I mean, if someone goes to the trouble or expense to have a car detailed, and then it rains, well, they are usually aggravated, but what can they do? They believe, and maybe rightly so, that if an animal fouls a new detail job that this CAN be prevented. She may wish that she could poison the owner, but has to settle for the cat! Who knows? The best and surest way: keep physical control of your animals to the best of your ability. It'll protect them from poison, cars, other animals, the works. And, even though animals can't help scattering garbage, messing in yards, walking on cars, humans can keep them from doing it and they should. It's simply not at all fair to expect a neighbor to suffer the actions of our animals. I personally never have owned any less than three or four pets at any given time. It is inconvenient and sometimes a downright pain in the a$#, but they stay on my property 24/7 through whatever measures that I have to take to accomplish this. Whenever they leave it, they leave my control, and I can no longer protect them nor assure that they refrain from damaging any property other than my own. Sometimes, they "escape", and everyone knows accidents happen. But, they are surely no nuisance to anyone else, because even if they did get loose, it would be definitely the exception far from the rule!

 

[raina04]

The interesting thing is that this woman has a cat of her own. I could lock my animals up in my house and never let them outside...although, I don't see how it's possible to keep a cat in a yard. The cats jump the fence, they climb the trees, there are plenty of ways for them to get out of the yard. I guess I could cut down all the trees, but I couldn't make my fence any higher without complaints from the neighbors. I have problems with other people's cats getting into my yard too. They walk on my car, they come over here and "visit" with my cats-all of them are spayed or neutered, they are just socializing. They also eat my cat's food when it's placed outside. It's all part of life. Cats basically come and go with little to no evidence of their having been there. Besides this, we have one neighbor in the area whose house is totally infested with rats and mice. If there were no cats in the neighborhood, we'd all have a big problem. She keeps her car in her garage so it isn't that cats are walking on it. I believe she bates food for the cats (because she wants them dead) and traps them so that animal control will pick them up and she doesn't have to deal with the aftereffects of the poisoning.

For Aloha. My problem pales in comparison to yours. The one common thing I see in these threads, regarding so many different issues, is that people go to the authorities and are repeatedly told, "There's nothing we can do." How frustrating and disheartening. Best of luck to you Aloha.

 

[Souix]

My response:

You're making too many assumption about her, and her knowledge of the law. Believe me, mayors are not necessarily versed in the law. Hell, even Marion Barry, mayor of Washington D.C. was arrested! Stop making assumptions of what she knows or doesn't know.

Do as I have suggested. That's your only real hope.

IAAL

I really think the writer needs to follow your advice. The previous mayor of our little town used to sit at his desk all day and do cross word puzzles. Just because she was mayor means nothing!

 

[hmmbrdzz]

YAY YAY to the indoor theories and trying to help those cats! I've got four indoor cats; litter boxes in bathrooms; one kitty door to utility closet with box in there, too. Happy bunch of cats and dogs around here!

Cats are wanderers by nature, and I just totally agree that -- since they are -- they should be kept indoors. They live longer, they will be healthier, they won't be exposed to disease, other cats, dogs, (mean people), etc. I, too, have an elder -- 19 years old.

We worked our butts off at the beach getting those ferals into better (safer) conditions. The problem began booming when a few unspayed / unneutered "stray cats" were around; it got way out of hand within a matter of a few years; and vacationers began getting really angry at the overpopulation of cats (understandably so, i.e. mom and pop bring nice vehicle and boat and other implements of recreation to beach to wake up in a.m. and find 15 cats on top of car and inside boat). I've heard death threats from tenants "I'm gonna kill those blankety blank cats". We feared these colonized cats would eventually be poisoned, (and they would have been by someone), and it was pretty cool knowing that most of the cats (after a lot of letters to the town administrators and commissioners and meetings) had a pretty happy ending considering what could have happened. In a few years time, though, it will be the same thing all over again -- cats everywhere because someone will bring unspayed / unneutered kitty from home and will wonder why kitty won't return when it's time to go back home. Cat dumb.

Oh.... and to the food outside -- I would strongly advise stopping feeding outside, as it will attract every single cat in the neighborhood closer to that cat-hating lady's property. Some people just do not like cats -- period. And with the overpop of some areas, you can't really blame them. Because of over pop, people now have the legal right to trap humanely and euthanise. The only thing left for the cat owner to do? Keep your cat indoors.

Off my cat box now..........


hmmbrdzz