In message , Rob Morley writes
It might not.... AFAIK though, shooting feral cats is a pest control exercise and not illegal. As far as I'm concerned, moggies are all vermin and any animal that the 'owner' can't control is feral.
If you cause "unnecessary suffering" and are found out, then you may be in some trouble. This applies to things from flies to anything lower than us. If you kill the thing outright, there's no "cruelty" angle at all - however, the owner *might* be able to sue for damages, since you've destroyed his property.
Try that near me and you'd end up as a patio foundation
You may think that. The law would disagree with you and act accordingly.
What could the law do?
It is an offence under the Protection of Animals Acts 1911-1988 and carries a fine of up to £5000 or six months imprisonment.
That's for cruelty to animals. If the animal is killed instantly, iy's not cruelty, apparently, so the above does not apply.
A hypothetical question since most people do not have legal access to weapons able to guarantee instant killing of an animal the size of a cat.
Note also that if a cat is somebody's domestic pet, it is their property and is not feral. This can also easily be established if the animal has been microchipped. Cats are excluded from being livestock under the 1971 Animals Act and therefore cannot be guilty of trespass and their owners cannot be held liable for damage caused by a single animal. The exception to that might be if there were a large number of cats having a single owner roaming around.
It's not a question, it's a statement, and has been tested in court (not by me, I hasten to add). If an animal is killed instantly, by a blow from a stick, or a shot, or whatever, it isn't cruelty.
Which is why I said in another post that the owner might take action against the cat-slayer, since his property has been destroyed.
Quite a bit.
Quote:-
? It is an offence to shoot pet animals. Besides being abhorrent to most people, this is, above all others, the offence that gives all air weapon shooters a bad name.
***************I wanted a particular air gun, common a few years ago and was amazed to find it now a "prohibited weapon", along with machine guns etc.
The above is not true in law, see my reply to A.H. I am not saying that it is a good thing, note.
I wonder what that was... a "B-k", perhaps? One of the air- guns with a pumped up cartridge?
Yes, fill a supersoaker with it and aim carefully.
Yep. You can stick sparklets bulbs in, carry around huge air cylinders on an air line, but not a self contained in the thing. Can't quite work out why!
Possibly or possibly not. The perpetrator may, however, be prosecuted under the Criminal Damage Act.
I suspect that an insurer would take a dim view as well....
Under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 any person who deliberately and intentionally administers any poison to an animal is guilty of an offence. Equally, a person commits an offence if he (or she) knowingly puts poison down in any building or place without taking reasonable precautions to avoid harming cats and kittens in the area.
There is no "possibly or possibly not" about it. It's a fact.
I have no idea about that. I suspect it is not the case, although if you can come up with a case that supports this, I should be interested. Action can certainly be taken by the ex-owner, though.
It's because they could be converted to fire .22 (or sometimes larger, e.g. .38) cartridges. Some were, and have been used by criminals.
BTW, the "sparklet" ones make a nice bang, if you fired one when being burgled, I bet the burglar would sht a brick. However, it must be said that this would under most circumstances be considered a naughty thing to do.
Heaving this back to practicalities, I see three easy and legal methods:
a) Get a large cat. Ours had the bonus of chasing foxes off its turf. b) Use orange juice. Generally quite good as an applied deterrent. c) Use a supersoaker or similar filled with water. Once you've established territorial rights, the cat is unlikely to return.
(side note: we kept half an eggcup full of water by the kitchen door. The cat had this dumped on his head every time he tried to enter; he soon stopped and kept out of the kitchen for the next four years, until we moved)
The message from Chris Bacon contains these words:
I did that to an ordinary .22 air rifle as a kid. Smuggled home a sock full of short .22 rounds as a kids - perhaps 500 of 'em, then carefully filed the breech to allow the casing to enter. A nail, cut down so it just reached the piston was slipped into the air-hole (bloody thing kept falling out if you weren't careful) and away you went.
The difference in power over the air rifle was most entertaining for the few days the rounds lasted.
Case reference?
I said " may be prosecuted"
The CPS takes this view:
"An animal may also be classed as property capable of being "damaged or destroyed" under the terms of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. A charge of criminal damage may be appropriate in the event of the death or injury of an animal owned by someone other than the defendant."
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.