Off topic, but I need some help regarding my rights.

[FreeBirdTim]

Maybe the local Chinese restaurant could help

That comment is so wrong! Reminds me of some program I watched years ago. They were showing some guy in China (I think) who had dozens of cats in cages. He took one out alive and dropped it in hot oil to cook it. Horrible thing to see. If I was there, I would have tossed the cook into the hot oil and released all the cats.

 

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[robertk]

How about a net? Not my fault that the ACO is too fat and out of shape to chase down a cat.

Unless you can corner it, I don’t care what kind of shape you’re in, you’re not going g to run down a cat. The average house cat can run 20-30 mph. The fastest human on record can only manage a sprint of 27 mph, and most humans are far below that.

 

[pepperj]

Wrong. We only had two feral female cats last year. When they had 7 kittens, I caught 5 of them with a net and took them to the shelter. So we ended up with 4 feral cats at the end of last year. We never had an issue until this Spring. That's when someone dumped a tomcat off in our area. He inpregnated all four of the feral cats and they had a total of 19 kittens. That's when I asked for help from animal control. Between the two of us, we caught 12 of the kittens in traps. I found six kittens up in my garage attic and grabbed all six (and the mother cat as well). So now we have one kitten left that's too smart to go into the traps.

Feel free too keep making snide comments and false accusations. I will reply to all of them until you get tired of being a jerk to me.

Oh Tim they're not snide remarks.
You leave information out so blanks get filled in with what you supplied.
Question: why did you not catch the two females right at the beginning?
Obtw Tim I'm not a jerk to you.
You're just uncomfortable in getting questioned.

 

[northcountrydigger]

That's their title, but they're not LEOS. By the way, they served us with papers on the 7th, so we have until September 6th to catch them all and take them to the shelter. We are now down to three feral cats, but they don't go anywhere near the traps. I'm afraid I'm going to have to hire a lawyer to rip apart this statute. I cannot pay $75 per feral cat per month forever, just because they're not fixed and cannot be caught by myself or animal control. The statute needs to address this problem. Just a lame way to get revenue for the town's coffers.

My God. What state are you in?

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Sorry, we've been battling Covid in my home, so I haven't been checking out this site lately. I will try to answer your questions, but I'm sure you'll just make more snide remarks.

1) "Oh Tim they're not snide remarks."
Yes, they are, but I deal with bitter people like yourself every day here in RI.

2) "You leave information out so blanks get filled in with what you supplied."
Not sure what I left out, so I can't comment on this insinuation.

3) "Question: why did you not catch the two females right at the beginning?"
I tried many times last winter, but only managed to catch three kittens that were born the previous summer.

4) "Obtw Tim I'm not a jerk to you."
Yes, you've been a jerk to me on many threads, but so be it.

5) "You're just uncomfortable in getting questioned"
I'm uncomfortble being harassed because you don't like my answers. I have tried to be honest regarding this situation.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

My God. What state are you in?

I live in Rhode Island. It's obvious to me that many of these statutes were concocted by the vets in this state to pad their profits. On the surface, they're good ideas, but they go too far. For example, why should people who have an indoor cat be required to spay or neuter their cat? Yes, there's a slim chance the cat may get out, but most people with indoor cats are very careful that they never go outside. Money maker for the vets.

Then there's the fact that they're trying to fine people because they feed stray cats. Feed a feral cat for 60 days and it's your cat now? Really? What if more than one person in my area is feeding them? Do we both own the cat and have to split the cost to get it spayed or neutered? Are they going to fine both of us? The statute is too vague and needs to be refined. You cannot fine someone because they cannot catch a feral cat to get it fixed. That was not the intent of the law. The law was enacted to coerce people into getting their cats spayed or neutered who refuse to get them fixed. We're not refusing to get them fixed, we (and animal control) haven't ben able to catch them in four months of trying.

And then there's the statute that requires all cats to wear a collar or have a chip inplanted to ID them. Cats hate collars and are very good at removing them. They can get hung up in the woods on regular collars as well, but breakway collars are just a waste of money. Too easy for the cats to break it. Getting them chipped cost around $70 per cat, so that's just a money maker for the vets, once again.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

By the way, the ACO hasn't been around in at least two weeks. He stopped setting up the traps every morning and I haven't seen or heard from him at all. Maybe my complaining to the attorney general's office accomplished something. The 30 days have passed and no fines yet. We did speak to a lawyer and he told us to record any future conversations with the ACO. They're not going to like that, but too bad. Our property, our rules.

He agreed that there's no legal way they can fine us for feral cats that no one can catch. Our first consultation with him was free, but we will hire him to rip this statute apart, if necessary. He also suggested suing the town for harassment and to get our legal fees refunded for making us hire a lawyer to fight the fine in the first place. I'll keep you posted on this deal...