Very mad. Need an answer - PHEASANTS KILLED A CAT!!!

[quiltnchik]

You need to get that chick on antibiotics ASAP! Cats have a TON of bacteria in their mouths and, since the cat broke the skin (though it doesn't matter - just the saliva can kill them), the risk of infection is extremely high!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

 

[car_uh]

Why not call animal control and let them deal with it? The owner will be given a costly ticket & be sent a message by someone that maybe they will see in more of a position of authority & listen to. I have new neighbors that have horrible dogs that bark at me constantly, break out of the yard, & get in my garbage & circle me barking when I take out my trash. I left them a note telling them what was going on & that if I saw their dogs outside the yard again I would be calling animal control for their safety as well as mine. And I fully intend to do that if it comes to it. When I put my chickens into my yard for the first time, I went over there to let them know I had chickens that would be living in the yard & that their dogs needed to remain contained so they didn't try to attack the chickens or destroy the fence/etc. It was pretty simple for me to lay down the ground rules without busting out with something like "Hey, keep your dogs away from my property or I'll shoot them, get it?"

I really don't understand the violent attitudes of people on this board. It seems like everyone's opinion is that the "right thing to do" is always just to kill. Kill, kill, kill. Shoot your neighbor's pet, bury it, then pretend like nothing happened while secretly laughing at how "stupid" they are, stuff like that. Why is this acceptable? I understand the frustration involved in a situation like this, but killing should be the last resort, in my opinion. If someone ran over your son or daughter in their car, the fact that their negligence caused the accident wouldn't make it "right" for you to shoot them in return, for example.

And before anyone attacks me for having that opinion, don't bother. I have 3 cats, a dog, & chickens. I care for them all equally & my opinion has absolutely nothing to do with "Oh if it were YOU you would understand!" It's just my opinion. If my neighbor's dog was killing my chickens I wouldn't immediately convert to the other side & beat it to death with a baseball bat.

 

[joerogrz]

Well you could pick up the cat and give it some milk and make it promise not to harm or chicks anymore and perhaps stroke it and put each chick into its mouth so that it will know which ones it shouldn't harm, oooooorrrrrrrr......

You can get a baseball bat, toss it up in the air, and send mr. pussy cat all the back to it's owner via the express route.

Don't get me wrong.... I love cats.... But my cat found out the hard way that the chicks are not his thanks to a pellet gun.

BTW- Cats are finicky till you have something that you don't want eaten....

 

[citrusdreams]

 

[car_uh]

I have 5 sugar gliders (small, squirrel-like marsupials) that live in my house. They have been with me for 9 years, longer than any of my cats. 2 of my cats don't try to eat them. They could care less. The other cat is younger & a little more wild & I woke up one night to an escaped sugar glider & a cat madly tearing around after it. I rescued the glider. I stopped the cat. I didn't get a baseball bat, a kitchen knife, a hammer, or anything else. I don't think my cat needs to be taught a lesson through abuse & cruelty.

So, that's just an idea of where I'm coming from.

 

[greathorse]

I dont know I think you could dispatch cats for a long time and there is still going to be more cats. I think you sort need to make sure the cats cant get to them while the chicks are very young. Many cats go in and out at will and travel quite a bit. There is no way to keep a cat in the back yard unless you have a covered area.

I kind of think that if a cat got my baby chicks I would consider it " "my bad" Cats are pretty darn hard to control in terms of where they hang out.

I dont have a cat and am not really a cat lover, but just think we would expect a lot of a cat owner to keep the darn things in their own back yard at all times. It would be a rare occurence of a cat to kill a full grown chicken. At least I have never seen it.

Edited to ad.

All of that said if the same cat became a persistent problem action may be necessary.

 

[mediazeal]

The original poster was uncomfortable killing the cat. He probably has the right if covered in the laws of his area. That's not the point.

He has to protect his animals. Cats know no borders (my yard, your yard). His neighbor is not getting it and does not want to have to consider a lifestyle change for her cat. Without her cooperation it will lead to having no cat.

This solution will work for now, but sounds like it will lead to problems down the road in terms of harrassment, suits, more cats, etc.

In my book killing is the last resort. It may come to that, but there are options before getting there. It just takes a little time to work out solutions like this. It's not a wild animal, it's a pet, with an owner that needs to understand how to protect her cat. If coyote's were roaming your neighborhood, would she let the cat roam at large?

The paint ball was one kind of notification. The neighbor took that as assault on cat, not as 'warning, cat in dangerous to cat territory.'

Right now this is only a problem for the poster. The cat lady doesn't seem to get it is a problem for her as well. You have to make it a problem for her for her to start paying attention.

Trapping the cat and taking it in to animal control, or calling animal control to take it in are also an option. I like this one because it starts to make this a problem for the neighbor, not just a problem for the poster. She will have to pay to get her cat back each time this happens. It may take a few times for her to wise up.

She needs to research ways to keep her cats away. That may mean it becomes an inside cat, or stays in her fenced yard with an electronic collar or declawing so it can't climb the fence, or she may need to rehome it since she is letting it be in danger like this.

In the meantime, good protection on the poster's part, good fences, covered runs, good enclosures and keeping the birds 'in' til it is resolved, will help keep bird death down.

And a big mean rooster to patrol the grounds.

That's more than 2 cents, it's my 2 cents and change.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

You were in the right and you shouldn't feel bad about anything.

What gets me is why do non-chicken owners assume that chickens are nasty? I have tons of chickens and they are not nasty or disease ridden or smelly. I wish more people understood the chickens. I am sure that there are people out there that keep nasty, filthy coops but most people don't. It just makes me sad because they can be so loving.

 

[amazondoc]

It is *easier* to SSS. However, in most cases I personally believe it is BETTER to act as you did. "Easy" does not always equal "good"!

Intent is important in animal abuse cases. Therefore, I seriously doubt that you could get in much legal trouble for paintballing a predator. After all, you did not intend to harm the cat -- you intended to avoid KILLING it. You did good.

I agree with whomever mentioned trapping the cat and sending it to animal control. You warned the owner already, now if the cat comes back it's time to help her understand that she's got a serious problem.