Well I got one and fitted it.
All worked well until today. The cat went outside and decided to sunbath in a neighbours garden. After 3 hours of hard sleeping the cat was taken by the neighbour to the vets as he deduced it was a stray. Lou got a call from the vets and the neighbour was told to take the cat home.
That's a f****ng great idea. Take the furry little bags of shit to the council pound as 'strays' and, I guess, quite a lot of them won't come back.
Thanks.
Or 'straying' as we would normally call it ... or not being in control of your animal ... if it was anything other than a cat apparently?
That's the sort of thing that can happen if you allow your animals to 'stray' onto other peoples property. Lucky he was trying to do good and didn't take it 'somewhere else'. ;-(
If the council were called to remove a stray animal the owner could be charged to get it back, even if they went to get it themselves.
What I don't get is how someone can get a cat in the knowledge it is very likely to stray (and defecate) into other peoples gardens and assume that should be considered normal / acceptable by everyone?
But hey, if we do leave the EU without a deal and chicken is in short supply, cats might start disappearing all over the place. <weg>
Cheers, T i m
You can buy readers but I believe only vets have access to the database. Sounds like a daft person to me. Still the cat had a holiday and now you can do her for theft.
Brian
Daughter has access to one and they are quite interesting (to see where the chips may have migrated to).
How long would you leave an animal in your garden before you determined it may be lost / missing?
I think you will find 'theft' is where someone intentionally (typically) intends to permanently deny someone some property, often for their own gain (to keep, use or sell etc).
Given that in this case the 'stolen object' was immediately handed into the appropriate authorities, I can't see that sticking.
Nor would the charge of cat-napping. ;-)
In fact I think it's a good idea. If everyone who had a stray cat in their garden was to take it to the vet / council and the owner had to go and get it and pay for it, maybe the 'owners' would get the message? And if they were 'wild animals', don't you have to have a licence to keep them?
Gotta be better than taking them miles away and dumping them off as the cat is likely to become the same problem somewhere else (to other people).
Cheers, T i m
The microchip would still give the same home address.
That's the UK law. Get over it. It's the second most common pet in the UK.
Just bung the cat in a microwave for a few minutes, that'll sort the chip out.
Currently.
Nope. It's a matter of human rights.
Strange use of the word 'pet' in the same way I'm not sure someone keeping racing pigeons would call them 'pets' (in the traditional use of the word).
Smoking was once considered 'acceptable' in public places and I questioned that point at the time. Again, it seemed that the victims had no rights. How things have changed. ;-)
Hey, if someone like Firage could muster up enough enthusiasm to get people to vote for something that was a complete unknown, maybe the majority of the population who supposedly own 'companion animals' but allow them free reign over the neighbourhood, might will vote for some sort of control, or a least enforcement over some responsibility.
Like, get the cat DNA tested and registered, along with the microchip, and any cat waste found in a garden that doesn't have a cat can be sent off for testing (the cost born by the cat owner) and they are then made to clean it up or pay compensation.
I wonder how many fewer cat owners there would be if they were held responsible, like the owners of most other pets / livestock?
Cheers, T i m
You might find out whether allegations that cats are witches' familiars are true ;-)
Owain
1) Assuming the cat owner ever bothered to have it chipped. 2) Assuming it was handed in anywhere, rather than just 'adopted' as most stray cats seem to be.
If you feed and offer shelter to a stray animal, are there any (legal) obligations / requirement to have it check for a chip?
3) How many cat owners bother to update the registered information if they pass their cat onto someone else or it moves home elsewhere?Cheers, T i m
p.s. I'll have to ask daughter if she checks for chips when she shovels cats off the road and if she does, how many have them ... and if they did, if the chip survived the experience. The latter might be good to learn, should a cat that wasn't under control cause an accident and the 'owner' was to be traced and held responsible (as I understand they can under certain circumstances).
I don't think they are <g>, just that the legislation hasn't been changed to deal with them (or more accurately, their owners) properly , now the technology is available.
Not just DNA but fenceless barriers (buried wires and vibrating collars) / whatever.
Cheers, T i m
p.s. To the people who own cats and dogs ... does their dog get on with all cats or just theirs? I ask because we have never had a cat (anywhere in the family) but talking to someone the other day, she said their dog get's on fine with their cat but 'hates' all other cats? I imagined that if a dog was cat friendly that would apply across the board?
Similarly, I let the dogs out into Mums back garden earlier where daughters two rabbits were out in their (open topped) run. Both dogs rushed down there and barked once or twice at the rabbits laying out in the sun right by the wire but the rabbits hardly moved. One rabbit did get up and was nose to nose with the dog though the wire before both got on with doing their own thing. However, take a 'different' dog round there and the rabbits behave very differently, running for cover (initially anyway).
Whilst out walking the dogs we have come across the odd cat that stands it's ground if the dogs go for it barking etc (on their leads) and I wonder if that's down to the cat being stupidly brave (the terrier probably wouldn't hold back) or was familiar with cat friendly dogs?
Well they are (legally), just that the owners don't have to be as responsible as most other pet owners have to be.
Not all. Some are 'house cats' and as long as they are happy that's fine (preferred solution by most gardeners quite probably). Others may go into their own garden but rarely roam any further.
The ones who become such a nuisance to others is those who just use their owners house for food and / or shelter. Those aren't 'companion animals' by the accepted use of the phrase, in the same way a hedgehog or tortoise generally isn't.
The pigeon I rescued and befriended did actually like my attention / company and would go round with me locally (often sat on my shoulder like a pirates parrot). ;-)
When we went on a family holiday and I had to leave it at home (it was flying again by then). On our return I was told it came looking for me in the regular local places. I'm not sure many cats would even do that. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
You understandings are, as normal, incorrect.
Yes and no.
Owners of cats who cause personal injury or property damage could certainly be sued on the basis that they (the owners) failed in their duty of care.
On the other hand it's not enough to show the owners knew such injury or damage was /possible/. They have to be shown to have been negligent - i.e. they both knew it was reasonably foreseeable and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it. AIUI the courts would look at various things - including the nature of cats and the impracticability of fencing them in. And it seems to me significant that no one seems to know of cases decided in favour of a claimant.
On the third hand, someone has to set the first precedent. I can't think of anyone better than T i m to fund such a case or to take it himself on a DIY basis.
I trained my dog to walk at heel and never used a lead unless I had to.
The lack of a lead once caused a very good fight with a park warden when I was about 19 years old.
The dog I got from a rescue as a pup was equally well trained and obedient. The other two came to us older (as have the current pair) and are therefore more difficult to train.
They didn't consider your dog sufficiently 'Under control', as stated in the bylaws?
Cheers, T i m
Quite.
Yup.
But that doesn't mean they don't exit, however 'difficult / unlikely'?
I would seriously consider it if I was put into such a position by a negligent cat (specifically as most other pet / livestock owners already have a clear / defined responsibility to others).
ITRW, most cats simply die under such circumstances and without causing a major issue for anyone else (even their owners in many cases who simply go out and get 'another one').
As / when someone swerves to avoid a cat (you shouldn't but it may be instinctive to) and hits a bunch of kids, things might change. ;-(
But as you don't have to report hitting and killing a cat, the statistics on how many get killed (that could have lead to a worse accident) may not be available.
Cheers, T i m
Did they fine the dog and insist that you were kept you on a lead? ;>
Something to that effect. But I was not having a park warden that had a dog with him that was not on a lead tell me to put my dog on a lead.
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