Neighbor shoots GF’s cat (cat fine). “Iron Curtain of Mid-GA" work starts tomorrow.

[Tripler]

@featherlou

Cats running free is against the law here, and I will reach a point someday where I start trapping my neighbours’ cats that roam freely in my yard, because they are a nuisance, they bother my INDOOR cats, and the people letting their cats roam free are breaking the law.

You are completely right. I’ve grown up as a cat owner in Northern NJ where it wasn’t illegal, and now that I live here in GA, it still isn’t. I’m sensitive to the laws. However, the laws not addressing cats, I am still sensitive to neoghbors wants and desires. I curbed my dogs in Jersey. I curbed the dogs I sat in North Dakota, Montana, and down here in Georgia. If you tell me there’s a problem, I’ll correct it in good neighborly conduct.

But if you start shooting at animals, then I’ll have a little problem.

Tripler
How many frickin’ times do I have to mention he pulled a weapon on a damned cat?!? :mad:

[Zabali_Clawbane]

@Carol Stream

You do know that domestic animals fall under the (broad) category of individual property rights, yes? So in such a case, why would you assume that the pet owner’s property rights trump the very same property rights of the neighbor?

They don’t! That said, don’t shoot the pet! What is so hard about that? Call the animal catcher, you’d be within your rights set out a trap, and have the pound come get them. Just don’t shoot!

[Zabali_Clawbane]

@Driven Snow

Nawth, you need to just calm down, buddy.

For the last time, NO ONE here agrees that your cat deserved to be hurt the way she was. Even your neighbor admits that.

What I said was IF the cat was trying to kill wildlife than it was perfectly reasonable for him to try and give it a little sting in the butt to scare it away from the feeder. Read it again. STING it. Not cause it to “be panting and bleeding and shaking…stunned and terrified …blood is on clothes, carpet, walls”. I understand you are upset, but you are starting to sound hysterical here.

I don’t agree. Cruelty to animals in any degree is never called for. :dubious: There are other solutions.

[joyfool]

I’m thinking that whatever animals I’d like about me can naturally expect me to have their safety and overall best interest as number one priority. That said, I don’t think that either Nawth Chucka or Tripler are shown to somehow be remiss. One can never anticipate something completely expected… I mean, this had never in all of 'Squeak’s 12 year long life. So, I believe that if I were in the position of avid birder, I would be the one to definitely take any precautions that might threaten those that I love. After all, I would be the one to have invited them to visit and hang out. Since that would be the case, I’d futhermore feel obligated to protect them from the many obvious dangers that lurk about. Like the roaming (and feral?) cats that many have mentioned in this very thread.

So, what would I do as said probable mention of the Audubon Society?

Well, thanks for asking. ‘Cause I’m sure everyone was just dyin’ to know, right? Anyway, I think I’d mount my bird feeder(s) much higher up. Then I’d place some aluminum around the perch/tree/whatever like they do with baby Pandas to keep them from climbing too high. Further more, I’d take some of that self same aluminum and fashion a ledge of sorts to keep predators away who have really sharp claws and are able to jump high enough, then hang, to harm my
babies.’

Least, that’s how I’d handle it. For if I loved flying creatures even 1/100th as much as my puppy, they’d be worth. Certainly, because I’d deem myself responsible and all.

Here’s hoping that kitty and household improves dramatically and sees only sunny days ahead.

[Unregistered_Bull]

If you kept your cat on your property, then it wouldn’t have posed a legitimate threat to wildlife on property that your cat had no business being on. The only person responsible of any sort of wrong doing here (from a moral stand point), is the owner of the shot cat.

If you turned the situation around, and the neighbor had a dog that represented a legitimate threat to the OP’s cat on the OP’s property, then the OP should be able to shoot it. At least from a moral standpoint.

In regards to BB guns, I know several people at work that shoot problem dogs and cats with BB guns to hurt them and discourage them from coming around without actually killing or really harming them. And they’re not meanies like me either; they ooh and ah at cute bunny rabbits outside at work, have indoor pets, can’t bear to have their goats slaughtered because they’ve became pets, adopt the occasional stray, own cats, etc. They’re just tired of cats shitting in their flower beds and dogs chasing their livestock.

If anything, the OP should be grateful that his cat suffered such minor injury due his irresponsibility and the cat’s bad behavior that the OP allowed to happen.

[hawthorne]

I’m from a different culture, but FWIW I’d be looking to move.

[Driven_Snow]

@Unregistered Bull

In regards to BB guns, I know several people at work that shoot problem dogs and cats with BB guns to hurt them and discourage them from coming around without actually killing or really harming them.

Just waiting here for the hysterical cat owner to start screaming again that “it’s illegal”, “it’s illegal”. LOL. Er, maybe in their cramped little city subdivision, since it looks like the houses are so close they’re almost touching. :rolleyes: But in most rural areas of the country, and specifically in the unincorporated part of my county, it is perfectly legal to discharge airguns/bb guns/firearms on one’s own property as long as hunting regulations are not violated. Hell, I’ll bet every kid over the age of 6 has one around here.

Let’s hope the OP and his GF never move out into the country! Can just see them wearing bulletproof vests, erecting iron fences and calling the sheriff every time they see a kid with a bb gun.

[Uber_the_Goober]

@Driven Snow

You actually expect me to spend thousands of dollars to fence my yard to prevent your animals from trespassing onto my property and killing the wildlife that resides on my land?

Uh, yeah…you ever been to a ranch out west? They put up miles of fence to protect their animals.

The only thing that makes it “your” yard is a fence. Otherwise it’s just a piece of a field that you happen to pay for. Sure, you’ve got legal “rights” to it, but the deer running through don’t know that, neither do the insects, and I’d be willing to bet that cats don’t either.

How dare anyone invade another’s land - despite the lack of “fence”. The Chinese *put up a wall * for crying out loud, the least you could do is protect your critters with a fence.

[Helen_s_Eidolon]

@Driven Snow

What I said was IF the cat was trying to kill wildlife than it was perfectly reasonable for him to try and give it a little sting in the butt to scare it away from the feeder.

And IF this was the case at all, and accorded with the facts Tripler and Nawth Chucka have given us, then you’d have a valid point. As it is, you just look like an ass.

[HeidiHo]

For the record, I am glad your Squeaker is going to pull through. It is a shame that the event happened.

However, looking at your municipal code, I apologize that I am not quite certain of my ability to link yet, I would show you this:*

It shall be unlawful for any person to fail to keep any animal under restraint which is owned by or in the custody or control of such person.

Restraint means any animal which is on a leash or at heel or beside a competent person and obedient to that person’s commands, or within a vehicle being driven or parked on the streets and roads of the city, or in a fenced area within the real property limits of the owner (if zoned R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, RMH or PUD), or within the property limits of a RAG zone. Invisible fence systems are allowed if they are maintained in good working order and keep the animal contained. The primary means of restraint within the property may not be by means of a chain, cable, rope or other stakeout or tieout device.*

Based on this, even though you are clearly a responsible pet owner, you were violating the law when Squeaker ventured over to sniff the bird feeder.

Of course this doesn’t excuse the fact that neighbor shot Squeaker. However, I am not sure that your neighbor necessarily broke the law. I would have to see how the municipal code (I couldn’t find it) defined rifle. But the Georgia State Code, which the municipal code seems to defer to a lot only includes guns with a certain aperature that specifically excludes bb guns and pellet guns and it defines firearm as a gun that shoots by the use of a chemical or electrical process, neither of which fit the gun in question.

I am saying this not to make you angry, but to try to see if you realize you are not necessarily in the right and screaming that it’s illegal over and over again doesn’t make it so. Your neighbor seems like a decent sort other than the cat shooting and I am glad he/his wife are taking responsibility. Again, Squeaker did not deserve to get shot, but since she did, it appears your neighbors are being honorable.

Sorry, for this being so long, but also, I grew up in the country, very often stray dogs would come over onto our property, about 10 acres fenced with barbed wire, and attack our dogs. We would often have to use bb guns or pellet guns to drive them off. Every one in a while an angry “neighbor” would come by and yell because his/her dog’s butt had been shot while on our property. Generally we knew what all the neighbor’s dogs looked like and would simply call the neighbor or if the dog wasn’t mean or unpredicatble we would go stop the fight. Sometimes however, dogs from 1-2 miles away would show up or the dog would appear unfamiliar. Therefore, it got shot. We too tried to keep the shot to a sting, but we did what we had to do if yelling didn’t serve to break up the fight. this might have been your neighbor’s mentatilty and yes I guess it’s a bit different if it’s a cat.

[joyfool]

In a million years or so, I never ever would have guessed that Unregistered Bull would show up in an animal thread. I bet that particular long shot must’ve earned a real gambler at least a hundred to one odds.

Damn, if I was only a bettin’ kind of gal. But I swear, who could possibly have foreseen something so impossible ever happening?! I need to align myself with a never-miss clairvoyant stat! They’d been prepared for this Haley’s Comet of board events.

[Gangster_Octopus]

IMHO, this is just an unfortunate incident from all sides.

[Caridwen]

@Driven Snow

Just waiting here for the hysterical cat owner to start screaming again that “it’s illegal”, “it’s illegal”. LOL. Er, maybe in their cramped little city subdivision, since it looks like the houses are so close they’re almost touching. :rolleyes: But in most rural areas of the country, and specifically in the unincorporated part of my county, it is perfectly legal to discharge airguns/bb guns/firearms on one’s own property as long as hunting regulations are not violated. Hell, I’ll bet every kid over the age of 6 has one around here.

Let’s hope the OP and his GF never move out into the country! Can just see them wearing bulletproof vests, erecting iron fences and calling the sheriff every time they see a kid with a bb gun.

I’ll stay out of the “country” too if grown men and women have nothing better to do than sit on their porch and shoot stray animals with a BB gun. And for the record I don’t own cats and have lived in the country. :rolleyes: Wouldn’t it be just as effective to throw a rock or squirt the animal with a hose?

I noticed that Driven Snow the great ornithologist and conservationist never addressed the issue of idiot’s bird feeders. Unless he just likes shooting things with BB guns, the problem could be solved by raising the feeders up three or four feet.

[Count_Blucher]

Tripler, my sympathies for the situation and may your cat and GF fully recover (and not necessarily in that order).

Tripler, I know I don’t have to tell you this, but part of this whole mess was your neighbor playing with a gun while drinking. Responsible people know that if you want the key to the liquor cabinet, you can’t have the key to the gun cabinet (& vice versa).
(Responsible people also know not to shoot their neighbors cats either, so maybe I’m splitting hairs there.)

PPS- best of luck resolving the neighbor issue, as many last longer than 30-year mortgages and there have been some legendary SDMB “Bad Neighbor” threads. Prosecution sounds fine until you realize that a $500 fine isn’t going to get them to move or sell the house to mount a defense.

[Uber_the_Goober]

@Unregistered Bull

If you kept your cat on your property, then it wouldn’t have posed a legitimate threat to wildlife on property that your cat had no business being on. The only person responsible of any sort of wrong doing here (from a moral stand point), is the owner of the shot cat.

If you turned the situation around, and the neighbor had a dog that represented a legitimate threat to the OP’s cat on the OP’s property, then the OP should be able to shoot it. At least from a moral standpoint.

In regards to BB guns, I know several people at work that shoot problem dogs and cats with BB guns to hurt them and discourage them from coming around without actually killing or really harming them. And they’re not meanies like me either; they ooh and ah at cute bunny rabbits outside at work, have indoor pets, can’t bear to have their goats slaughtered because they’ve became pets, adopt the occasional stray, own cats, etc. They’re just tired of cats shitting in their flower beds and dogs chasing their livestock.

If anything, the OP should be grateful that his cat suffered such minor injury due his irresponsibility and the cat’s bad behavior that the OP allowed to happen.

OK, the thinking that this post reflects is just out of line. It’s what gets humans into trouble so damn often. Don’t be so shortsighted.

The OP should be grateful? Did you even bother to read the OP?

The cat was a clear non-threat. It wasn’t chasing livestock. The birds that were (presumably) bird-bathing were not owned by the neighbor. What was he defending? The neighbor just found an excuse to shoot his gun, and metaphorically wave his dick around. The OP made it clear that this was the first time the cat was in their yard. Would you like it if on your first *consideration * of a crime you got shot in the ass? Any rational person would have gone into the yard to shoo the cat, perhaps even find out who the cat belonged to. Strays aren’t fat and waddly, and are easily distinguishable from housecats - including their color patterns. In addition, the GF said that the neighbor had seen the cat before, and knew who owned it.

He was being an ass. You, for defending his position, are making yourself look like an ass-defender.

[Bridget_Burke]

@Driven Snow

You actually expect me to spend thousands of dollars to fence my yard to prevent your animals from trespassing onto my property and killing the wildlife that resides on my land?

@Driven Snow

You actually expect me to spend thousands of dollars to fence my yard to prevent your animals from trespassing onto my property and killing the wildlife that resides on my land?

You’re willing to lure the cute little birdies to your property with feeders, but you’re too cheap to protect them by building a fence? If you really live out in the country, surely you realize that all sorts of predators live there, too.

Do you collect animal pelts? Feathers good, fur bad!

[Contrapuntal]

@HeidiHo

Sorry, for this being so long, but also, I grew up in the country, very often stray dogs would come over onto our property, about 10 acres fenced with barbed wire, and attack our dogs. We would often have to use bb guns or pellet guns to drive them off. Every one in a while an angry “neighbor” would come by and yell because his/her dog’s butt had been shot while on our property. Generally we knew what all the neighbor’s dogs looked like and would simply call the neighbor or if the dog wasn’t mean or unpredicatble we would go stop the fight. Sometimes however, dogs from 1-2 miles away would show up or the dog would appear unfamiliar. Therefore, it got shot. We too tried to keep the shot to a sting, but we did what we had to do if yelling didn’t serve to break up the fight. this might have been your neighbor’s mentatilty and yes I guess it’s a bit different if it’s a cat.

Plus he knew whose cat it was. And the cat lived next door, not 2 miles away. And the cat was neither fighting nor threatening anything. And a shot about 2 feet off the starboard bow would have accomplished the same thing without injuring the cat.

[Tripler]

Wow. A few of you have really surprised me with a lack of common sense in this thread.

The facts:
The cat was admittedly on neighbor’s property (a violation of ordinance)
The cat was shot with a BB gun (discharge of a weapon another violation)
The cat is alive.
It cannot be stated with any degree of accuracy whether or not there was a threat from the cat to the birds (based on Jimbo’s statements and our known capabilities of the cat).
It cannot be stated with any accuracy whether or not Jimbo had been drinking that morning.

Some of you want to assume that there is fault on either side of this case. This I agree with: it’s just an unfortunate accident with shared blame.

But to go directly from an admitted tresspass to a projectile lodged in my cat’s gut is a gap in morals and knowledge, which some of you want to prosecute us owners on. And to you, I will e-mail you a gift certificate to buy a clue: Trespassing is not a shootable offense.

Launching projectiles ought to be a last resort to solving any problem, not a first reaction. If he recognized the cat, a phone call to the owners would have solved the problem. If not, a hose or shooing the cat away would have worked. Hopefully, he’ll think twice before shooting lest he gets another neighbor’s vet bill.

I will admit guilt one way: I failed to plan. I failed to plan on the capabilities of my neighbor, and failed to plan on his perceptions and intentions. For this, the cats will be restrained for their own safety.

But last I heard, the neighbors were going to come over and we’d get past this one. Life goes on. . .

Tripler
Now I know. . . and knowing is half the battle. [sub]G.I. Joe![/sub]

[Nawth_Chucka]

@Driven Snow

Just waiting here for the hysterical cat owner to start screaming again that “it’s illegal”, “it’s illegal”. LOL. Er, maybe in their cramped little city subdivision, since it looks like the houses are so close they’re almost touching. :rolleyes: But in most rural areas of the country, and specifically in the unincorporated part of my county, it is perfectly legal to discharge airguns/bb guns/firearms on one’s own property as long as hunting regulations are not violated. Hell, I’ll bet every kid over the age of 6 has one around here.

Let’s hope the OP and his GF never move out into the country! Can just see them wearing bulletproof vests, erecting iron fences and calling the sheriff every time they see a kid with a bb gun.

Doesn’t matter what’s legal in your area, as my home (I hope to God) is not in your area.
I’m afraid I have to retract my remark about your posts being well-thought out and hoping you pay to stay. You are cordially invited to go away and use snideness, exaggeration and jerkish behavior in place of rhetoric and reading comprehension elsewhere. It’s a pity we have tolerate you another 28 days.

[HeidiHo]

@Contrapuntal

Plus he knew whose cat it was. And the cat lived next door, not 2 miles away. And the cat was neither fighting nor threatening anything. And a shot about 2 feet off the starboard bow would have accomplished the same thing without injuring the cat.

Oh I understand that, I didn’t mean to imply that shooting the cat was ok by that remark. I think I mentioned several times I don’t approve of it in the least.

I think I posted that in reaction to some people saying it’s always wrong to shoot animals in your yards. This was anecdotal evidence that sometimes you have to.