Man traps neighbors cats, takes to shelter

in article , Bill S at
wrote on 11/16/03 11:35 PM:

I was visiting a friend in Portland, Oregon this weekend when I saw an
article in the newspaper I was sure many here would find interesting.
I'm sure it will be horrifying to some:

A Portland man, upset at his neighbor's cats continually coming over
and killing birds and crapping in his flower beds decided to take
matters into his own hands. He started trapping the cats and taking
them down and dropping them off at the animal shelter. Most neighbors
eventually thought to check the shelter when their cats disappeared,
but one cat had no ID and was euthanized within a few days. The woman
who owned the cat was crushed and it started a fierce debate in the
Portland papers. Out of the dozen or more letters to the editor I
read, I was actually surprised to find that most supported the man who
was trapping the cats. People were not happy that he allowed one to
be euthanized, but most felt he was within his rights to protect his
property from roaming cats. Apparently some politcians are weighing
in and discussing requiring Portland cats to be kept indoors or within
their own yards.

I sympathize with the man, and with the poor woman who lost her cat.
I have two cats, indoor and out. When outdoors, they are restricted
from getting out of the yard by a special fence I constructed. I
personally hate working in my flower bed and digging up a big cat
turd. One of my flower beds I don't even work in any more because it
smells like a litter box (It's not one my cats can get to, and yes
I've tried every product known to man to keep them out). This is
obviously a bad situation with no easy answers, in my opinion.


Bill



Happened once to us too, but we thought to check the shelter pretty quickly.
The sad part is, our address was on his cage at the shelter so they
definitely knew he belonged to us. Our neighbor is an odd one. My mom was SO
mad. She had baby sat their children for free for years but our cats
couldn't walk across their lawn. This same woman euthanized her own cat and
dog when her husband left her for some unknown reason. Really out there.
Still, there was nothing we could do if they called the pound. Usually we
kept an eye on them. It never did happen again, so I don't know if she felt
bad or realized if one didn't show up, we immediately would check the
shelter.

Karen