I neutered my neighbor's cat

Well, I let the vet do it

[spaceylacie]

I think it's been over a year since I posted that I was thinking about neutering my neighbor's cat(well, you know, let the vet do it) and most seemed to think that I was over-reacting to the night time noises and that neutering their cat was not the right thing to do. I trapped him, brought him to the vet, had his stuff removed then he escaped from my house a few days later... I was trying to keep him indoors for a week or 2 as the vet advised.

Anyway, my neighbor's cat went home nutless and not one person in my neighborhood has complained in over a year, including the owners. Just thought I'd post an update.

[bobothecat]

"Dogs usually know when they're misbehaving."

Sure... when you hit them?

<snip>

[edited by: bobothecat at 8:51 pm (utc) on April 28, 2007]

[edited by: lawman at 9:08 pm (utc) on April 28, 2007]

[digitalghost]

I wouldn't know, I've never had to lay a hand on any animal I've ever owned. I've rescued many mistreated animals and I can guarantee you that you don't want to mistreat an animal in front of me.

The dog in the pic was a rescue. He was scheduled to be put down. He's missing an eye and he's scarred up from buckshot. No one was going to adopt him. Now he's got a home and he gets along well with the other dogs. He's not permitted to run free though.

[edited by: lawman at 9:09 pm (utc) on April 28, 2007]

[KenB]

I find it quite astonishing that anyone could justify and encourage another person to exercise rights over this animal which is the property of someone else. Doesn't the concept of ownership mean anything at all?

With rights come responsibilities ESPECIALLY when it comes to owning pets. This means that cats and dogs MUST wear proper ID tags and all "non-breeding" cats and dogs (e.g. not registered show animals) need to be fixed.

Allowing a cat to roam free and not putting ID tags on it is a failure to exercise one's responsibilities AND thus one relinquishes one's rights.

A free roaming cat or dog without proper ID tags should be considered ownerless and should be dealt with accordingly (e.g. taken in and fixed or destroyed if it can't be placed in a proper home). Given the damage cats are doing to wildlife, there must be no exceptions to this.

Even if the cat was "trespassing" in Spacey's yard - the cat didn't know any better, plus you just don't neuter a cat because the neighbor isn't keeping the animal confined to his/her own property.

Yes you do, because the owner isn't exercising their responsibilities and thus give up their rights.

Causing irresversible surgery under false pretenses without permission is pretty much against the law.

Not necessarily and bringing such a case might result in fines for failure to take responsibility for one's pet to begin with. "Judge, I was an irresponsible pet owner and allowed my unfixed cat to freely roam the neighborhood without any ID tags. I'm suing my neighbor because they caught my precious cat on their property and took it to a vet to be neutered." Ya I can see that case going really far.

>>the cat didn't know any better
Yep, cats are pretty stupid critters. Dogs usually know when they're misbehaving. Doesn't cut it as an excuse though.

Well I guess that pretty much disproves the "cats are smarter than dogs" comment earlier. ;)

Animals don't "know" right from wrong, they can simply be conditioned to reframe from certain behavior. This is why pet owners must exercise restraint over their pets. If you own a dog or cat you have an obligation to keep it on your own property and off of your neighbor's property. If you continue to allow your precious pet wander onto your neighbor's property then don't complain if your neighbor takes action to protect their peace of mind or beautiful flower beds.

[spaceylacie]

I just want to point out one more thing, the vet didn't neuter this cat for free nor did they compensate me for high gas prices in order to bring the cat in(our spay/neuter clinic is a about a 30 minute drive through heavy traffic(1 hour round trip), and they didn't compensate for my time either. Whoever wants to sue me, I'll see you in court.

[JudgeJeffries]

When are you going to catch the female and any other offending toms or was it just this one that upset you?

high gas prices

.....jeez

[spaceylacie]

One of the females did come into my house after just a here, kitty, kitty. Knowing that one of my other neighbors had just lost a cat, I'm not sure how it died but we saw him outside burying it and weeping so I went over and offered to help. I brought that one over to his house a few weeks after his cat's death and asked if he'd keep her, and spay her of course. I explained to him our local program that would spay the cat for free since he was on a fixed income. I don't qualify for the program myself. That female has since been spayed and as of about 3 weeks when I last talked to this man, is happily living indoors with him. Another of the females, I knew exactly which neighbor it belonged to and when confronted the neighbor insisted that the cat was already spayed and "sorry about that, she doesn't usually wander far". The others stopped coming around after the male was neutered and disapeared from my property so I didn't have a chance to do anything about them.

This is sort of off-topic but to provide some history of problem animals in this growing neighborhood just on the outskirts of town, over the years we have lost 2 small breed dogs and one elderly cat(14 years old and nearly blind) due to neighbor's large dogs coming into our yard, one Rottwieler killed both little dogs and 2 Huskies killed the cat. We caught the Huskies in our yard and my other half shot and killed one of them on the spot and shot but only injured the other as it attempted to exit the yard. The Rottweiler we didn't catch until he was down the road in a neighbor's yard so that one was impounded and euthanized. In the case where we shot and killed our neighbor's Husky, he came over, apologized, brought his dog's carcass home and buried our cat in our yard for us. The police drove by after the shootings and watched us dealing with the dead animals without getting out of their car, then just drove off. This cat's best buddy, a 15 year old cat, died of natural causes within days of losing his best friend.

Our home is completely fenced in but it is possible for an animal to get in if we forget to close the gate properly or worse, forget to close the gate at all, or if they climb or jump over the fence. Whether the gate is open or closed, our neighbor's animals still have no right to enter our yard.

[lawman]

Don't know what the laws and/or ordinances are in your area spaceylacie, but if this cat were picked up by animal control and no one claimed him, what would happen to him? In my city, he would be euthanized.

[KenB]

In the case where we shot and killed our neighbor's Husky, he came over, apologized, brought his dog's carcass home and buried our cat in our yard for us.

How many of you cat lovers would do this if a neighbor shot your cat while it was raiding their cage of show pigeons? I'm sure the husky owner was upset at losing his pet, but he also realized it was his own fault for not controlling his dog.

[g1smd]

>> If my outdoor light was too bright and it bothered someone's sleep... <<

... you would be committing a statutory offence if it were in the UK.

Since last year, Light Pollution has been as illegal as Noise Pollution and Offensive Smells are.

There is already a huge array of websites devoted to the problem...

[jecasc]

Ah pets. I remember when I was little I had a hamster. When it died, I and my best friend who lived next door would put it in a box and bury it in the garden. We even set up a little tombstone.

However after a certain period of mourning had passed scientific curiosity took over and we carried out an exhumation to check what it would look like after a few month in the ground.

[jessejump]

>>>>>>>>> nor did they compensate me for high gas prices in order to bring the cat in(our spay/neuter clinic is a about a 30 minute drive through heavy traffic(1 hour round trip), and they didn't compensate for my time either.

Who is they?

[spaceylacie]

"They" are the neighbors who try to sue over something like this, I'd love to prove ownership by them admitting it in court. But actually it's a hypothetical situation that someone brought up as being seemingly very plausible.

[KenB]

"They" are the neighbors who try to sue over something like this, I'd love to prove ownership by them admitting it in court.

That would be hysterical. I could imagine it being like the drug dealer who calls the cops when their pound of pot gets stolen.

JUDGE: "So you want to sue them for fixing your cat, which was running free with no ID tags? How about you paying the vet bill and a fine for not licensing your cat and having proper rabies tags instead."

[edited by: KenB at 2:47 am (utc) on April 30, 2007]

[DXL]

Having surgery performed on another person's cat like that = uncool.

[rocknbil]

I've stayed out of this one and intend to, but spacielacie as a cat **and** dog owner I'd just like to say there are not enough people like you in the world, those who pick up the gauntlet and get things done. Those that cannot recognize you have done this cat owner a favor can pick up their protest signs at the local Wal-Mart.

If he had not started bringing his girl friends over, he'd still have all his stuff.

Pray you don't have teens. lol

[cornwall]

How's the neighbour's cat getting on these days ? ;)