Begging for helps with cats

Please, please!!!! I hope you guys can help. I am sure you will.

I have a HUGE cat problem. My stupid neighbour moved in with a caravan filled with cats (like, 40).
I wrote at least 20 complaints to the city, which never did anything.

Stupid neighbour moved away and left the caravan filled with cats. But, to be sure they could eat, she made a hole in the door.
Now, where are the cats? In my lawn, under my car, under my coop, on my rooftop, ALL OVER.

Basically, I am not even able to process my meat chicks anymore since the cats are all around me. If I put the neck aside, they take it and run. They eat my compost and vomit it all over my porch.

I wrote to the city again and now, they say they are stray cats since they don't belongs to anyone, so the city is not responsible. Police is not either. No one is helping me.

I even tried to feed them rat poison but they SURVIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really need a brilliant idea to get rid of those hungry, abandoned, sick cats.

If I get a cage and catch one, what do I do with it? Kill it? I don't know how to kill a cat, and they are not tamed at all. I will get scratched and bitten if I try to hold them still and kill them. Bringing them to SPCA will cost me a fee for each cat..

There is nothing I will not try. My only limit is money, as I have invested 825$ up to now in getting rid of those stupid cats. I don't want to invest too much more.

I am so eager to seeing your answers.

Note: I live alone and I don't have a gun! So solutions that involve two people are not very doable for me.. no one I know will come help me kill a cat LOL.

EDIT: Oh yeah, if I use a cage, what do I do if I catch a skunk? Is it possible to remove it from the cage without getting sprayed?

OK, I know I'm going to take hits for this, but here goes: you could get a live trap and drown each cat you catch. (You'll need a barrel or deep tub of some sort) Yep, drowning is not the fastest, most humane way to kill them, but it's still quicker, and probably more painless than starving to death, or getting hit and injured by a car. If it were my situation, the cats would be shot, but that does not seem to be an option for you. Are you sure you don't know anyone who hunts? That would be the best solution in my opinion - catch a cat, take it for a drive, meet your hunter friend somewhere in the country and dispose of the cat... I suppose you could live-trap them and release them somewhere near your local ASPCA, police department or animal control agency.... I'm so happy I live in the country. Problem animals are so much easier to deal with.

I am in the country also, but I did have a neighbour ;( I have fields in front and behind my house, but neighbours to the right and to the left! When I was talking about "city" I actually meant city hall, or whatever we call that lol. Since there is a "town law" that prevents anyone from owning more than 2 cats, the town should have applied the rule and should have gotten rid of the cats but.. they won't.

Believe it or not, I did think about drowning. The problem is that I cannot imagine touching those stray cats, possible with rabies and such.. yuk. I thought that using a weight, I could put the cage in the river that passes on my property and go get it later. I thought it was the only way not to get bitten. I wonder if they will make any sort of noise that could get my neighbours to wonder what I am doing.

Replacing the cat elsewhere is not an option. I would hate to be a house near where I will drop the cats. I don't want to pass this problem on to someone else. I want to be a good neighbour And if I drop them in a forest, they'll just continue to starve and be sick, that must suck.

If I drown them, can I feed the meat to the chickens? There are a LOT of cats, at least 15, so it is substantial food source!

My thought was to put the whole cage in the water. The only problem I see with this is someone potentially turning you in for animal cruelty. Good for you for wanting to be a good neighbor and not dump your problem on someone else (I wasn't exactly serious about that, anyway - just thinking that if the cats showed up on those doorsteps, they'd be forced to deal with them ) Right now my nearest neighbor is a mile away. There is a house going up about 1/2 mile away, though - it's starting to feel a little crowded around here...

Yeah I thought of putting the whole cage in the water I hope a cat can't scream loud enough so we hear it above water level.

I asked the police if I could kill a cat that I catch. They said: If the cage is intended for a racoon, it's ok.
Meaning - I suppose - that they cannot allow me to kill a cat, but a racoon would be OK. So if the cat happens to go in the racoon cage and dies of hunger, it would be OK.. (I suppose..).

So assuming they find a dead cat at my house, I guess I'd be fine. If they catch me in the act - ouch.
Well, it's dark early at this time of year.. I will do it after dark.
And the river is in the back of my house, there is a field behind it. No neighbours near the river.

I'll tie a big rock to the cage. I'll attach the cage to a tree to be sure it doesn't go down the river with the flow.
Then I'll watch a movie and come back, lol. Can't bear to see or hear that.. but cannot afford to pay for euthanasia of 15 cats - NO WAY!! I wonder how long it takes.

Oh.. I'm nervous just thinking of it.
But, those cats attack my dogs. Being that I have a blind, 13 year old cocker spaniel, I am now afraid for my dogs. I am also afraid that they transmit diseases to my own (indoor) cat (since I could possibly walk in their poop since it's all over my property). Also my poor chicks are stuck in the run instead of being lose and running around

****.. I am not sure I can go through with this!
At least I have some vodka..

I also live in a rural community and our county animal shelter has a "catch and release" program; they'll spay and neuter strays at no cost to anyone then release the cats back to where they came from. They also have a program for people who can't afford to spay/neuter to do it for $10. I'm not saying that the catch and release is ideal in your situation but it would help prevent them from multiplying. I'm sure if you contact your local shelter and explain the situation...especially that you can't process your own food with them around because they're not only stealing anything you put down, they're contaminating your work space and your last resort is to kill them, they'd be willing to help.

Your town has failed miserably in upholding the 2 cat law and I would be contacting an attorney if I were you. You sent the letters (hoping you have copies) and made phone calls. They obviously didn't want to deal with the problem but ignoring you won't make the problem go away. Continue to complain, as tiresome as it is for you...they can't ignore you forever, especially if you have an attorney.

Sabz said:

****.. I am not sure I can go through with this!
At least I have some vodka..

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I'll have to admit - I don't know if I could do it, either. It would be hard for sure. Have the police, animal control or ASPCA given you any helpful suggestions as to how to get rid of them? If you aren't comfortable with drowning them, I'd suggest to keep calling and keep asking them to either do something about it or give you some helpful advice. I would never ask if it was legal to kill a feral cat caught in a cage... That just opens the door for them to look more closely at you if dead cats start showing up on your property even if you didn't kill them.

I know I couldn't kill them...well, unless they starting harming my own animals. I had a predator problem a few years ago and contacted my local animal control to borrow a trap. He didn't have one large enough so I told him that means the last thing left for me to do was to start shooting. He smiled, shrugged and wished me the best. They weren't domestic pets though. If you were to state that's the last resort...one might think they'll have to do something whether they want to or not or tell you to go for it.

Drowning is not an acceptable way of dealing with these cats. If your chickens deserve to be culled quickly and humanely so do these cats. I truly hope that for sake of these cats and your morals you find another way of dealing with them.