Dealing with strays

[Venture]

We have a bad stray cat problem where I live. We have a whole family of them that jump into dumpsters for chow(Close the damned doors!), have cat fights at 3 AM, use doors for scratching posts, mew incessantly at all times of the day, and have recently scratched a neighborhood kid. Fortunately, the cat was just aggressive, and didn't have rabies, so the kid just got a band-aid out of it, but it was the last straw of tolerance we've had for them.

Our local Animal control refuses to catch them unless we trap them first, and traps cost as much as 100$ in the first place, and we have our doubts the cats will fall for them, anyhow. We don't want to waste the money to do Animal Control's job for them, and have decided to deal with them in a more economical fashion. They're fast little bastards that don't usually let you get within 10 feet of you before jetting, but one of our neighbors did manage to kill one with a shovel that stood it's ground. The rest, however, are requiring the use of rat poison in food bowls and will prolly get ran over by people driving through that are out to get rid of them.

We don't really fancy the idea of driving over them, as that's risky to the drivers and pedestrians, nor do we want to disturb the peace by shooting them with guns for the risk of loose bullets going into property and people, as well. We think we can get them with rat poisons, so we're set on this plan of action to deal with the strays. All except for the aftermath: How do you properly dispose of a stray cat?

I know a beloved family animal is buried with appropriate love and respect, but noone loves these cats, and most hate them outright and won't want to spend the effort to shovel them into the dirt one-by-one. Do you put them in a plastic bag and throw them in with the rest of the trash? Call Animal Control for pickup and prolly get chewed out for our violent acts(Thanks for your non-help, by the way!)? Maybe just mass grave them like a good ethnic cleansing? What is the proper method of disposing of a dead animal in a city where taking them to the wilderness isn't an option to avoid disease and other rotting issues?

[archibaldcrane]

I know you don't want to use guns, and it sounds like you're in a city, but a decent pellet gun is very quiet, has decent accuracy, and can kill cats easily from a windowsill if you are a good shot. My dad has killed many a rabid opossum/skunk/whatever in our neighborhood with his, very useful.

Just a thought.

[Aloe]

http://www.dannychoo.com/detail/mac/eng ... +Yoke.html

[Avanarius]

What is the proper method of disposing of a dead animal in a city where taking them to the wilderness isn't an option to avoid disease and other rotting issues?

garbage bag? god is this really rocket science?

am I whooshing myself?

[Korietsu]

Poisoning them has the potential to harm other cats that are not strays that might travel outside to relieve themselves, and if they are owned without a collar it can cost great sum of money.

Here's a quick story for you. I live out on a 3-acre fenced in piece of property, and at the time I had two cats. Eventually one of them got sick and was rather irritable and wouldn't eat and could barely walk, this, a cat who until that day had been fine, and survived a snake bite to the head, more than likely from a copperhead, was poisoned. In an attempt to save our cat once again from death, we took them to the local animal hospital, where they put her up and tested her for poisons and other various diseases. While trying to fight was poisoning her, we spent $1000 on board and treatments, all to have her lost to euthanasia because what poisoned her gave her dementia, and due to policy (rabies) and monetary reasons we couldn't afford to keep her at the center for another week while blood work was run.

All because someone left out a bowl of antifreeze/poisoned food to attract the cats to poison them in our area, even though my cats were tagged, and several of the others were tagged with collars. Not only did it cause distress to our family emotionally, it also cost us money because some jackass like you wanted to poison cats to remove them from the area.

Here's what you can do to not be a jackass and give these cats a friendly and loving home. http://www.aspca.org/ Find the nearest center to you, and call them ask them if they can deal with the cat problem.

[grantlogan]

Did you guys read what the OP said? Their local animal control won't catch them unless the neighborhood people spend hundreds of dollars of their own money on traps to catch the cats themselves.

[CMMeast]

After you kill or trap them, call Animal Control.

[BRP]

All because someone left out a bowl of antifreeze/poisoned food to attract the cats to poison them in our area, even though my cats were tagged, and several of the others were tagged with collars. Not only did it cause distress to our family emotionally, it also cost us money because some jackass like you wanted to poison cats to remove them from the area.

You can't pursue any legal action against that?

[archibaldcrane]

http://www.petfinder.org
http://www.aspca.org

if you decide you want to shoot or poison them, i hope you get charged with animal cruelty. My cat almost died b/c someone had rat poison out to kill the birds in the area and the cat ate a bird.

People (who aren't the OP) are killing them with shovels and trying to run them over with their cars.

We're beyond the point of "omg don't hurt teh kittehs!" here.

[Korietsu]

All because someone left out a bowl of antifreeze/poisoned food to attract the cats to poison them in our area, even though my cats were tagged, and several of the others were tagged with collars. Not only did it cause distress to our family emotionally, it also cost us money because some jackass like you wanted to poison cats to remove them from the area.

You can't pursue any legal action against that?

We don't know who it was, and we only came to that conclusion after some results showed some trace amounts of it, as we have no connecting evidence to whomever in our area did it, nope. The cat had to be euthanized then decapitated to be tested for all of the rest of it =/. And now because of some feral cats in the area, my cat was scratched or attacked by one of them, or by a local neighbor's cat in play, and contracted Feline AIDS. So now I have to take care of him till he gets too sick to move, or till he goes off on his own to die in peace and comfort, and I can now be held legally responsible if someone else's cat contracts it by state law

[Korietsu]

http://www.petfinder.org
http://www.aspca.org

if you decide you want to shoot or poison them, i hope you get charged with animal cruelty. My cat almost died b/c someone had rat poison out to kill the birds in the area and the cat ate a bird.

People (who aren't the OP) are killing them with shovels and trying to run them over with their cars.

We're beyond the point of "omg don't hurt teh kittehs!" here.

Sorry for the double post, but if someone who was like minded enough as I, those people would be in jail as fast as I could put my finger on them. Your neighborhood needs to do the responsible thing and contact the ASPCA. Or file against the county animal control for negligence.

[Zigma]

dude, fuck you for trying to poison them. Call the ASPCA and let them know you have a problem and the local animal control dept in your area refuses to do anything. I bet that kid deserved to get scratched because knowing cats, even strays, they learn to stay away from you unless you start to fuck with them.

[archibaldcrane]

And now because of some feral cats in the area, my cat was scratched or attacked by one of them, or by a local neighbor's cat in play, and contracted Feline AIDS. So now I have to take care of him till he gets too sick to move, or till he goes off on his own to die in peace and comfort, and I can now be held legally responsible if someone else's cat contracts it by state law

Man, if only there was someone that was a good shot with a pellet gun who could quickly and safely eliminate the threat of those feral cats. Could've saved your cat some AIDS.

[Venture]

Well, we're stuck in a bit of a Catch-22 here, because we can't get any official help to catch or euthanize them, we're not gonna spend the money to catch them ourselves, the local government i'm sure does not approve of what we're having to do, and when we do end up having to kill them to keep them under control, we and our land owner can be heavily-fined for dumping animals in landfills if caught, and also does not approve of burying dead animals for utility and public health reasons.

They want us take them to a veterinarian for disposal, but there's a fee to do so, and I personally wouldn't want to face a vet with a dead animal we've had to kill. It's a moral problem for me, even though i'm having to participate to get these cats away from the kids in the area because of the rabies and disease issues.

We're in a bit of a bind, and unsure of the best method of dealing with the problem because of all the legal snags we're going to potentially run into over, at best, 4 cats. One of which is aggressive and territorial, another that we know is suffering from some kind of mental degeneration problem, one other that was put down by a shovel that was aggressive, and at least one other female that constantly breeds which needs to be taken out of the equation so not to keep perpetuating the problem.

[Perfect Night]

I like how the "bad stray cat problem" turned in to 4 cats. From the original post I was thinking tons of cats.

[Korietsu]

And now because of some feral cats in the area, my cat was scratched or attacked by one of them, or by a local neighbor's cat in play, and contracted Feline AIDS. So now I have to take care of him till he gets too sick to move, or till he goes off on his own to die in peace and comfort, and I can now be held legally responsible if someone else's cat contracts it by state law

Man, if only there was someone that was a good shot with a pellet gun who could quickly and safely eliminate the threat of those feral cats. Could've saved your cat some AIDS.

Amazingly enough, I happen to be quite a good shot with a rifle and pistol, however, I've never seen the cats, nor can I can control my own cat while he's outside. Nor would I harm an animal like a cat or dog in any way even if they might be trouble unless they physically attacked me, then its only self defense.

Call the ASPCA, they'll be glad to take the cats for free to protect them.

Edit: If you're having a moral issue, and you're not willing to deal with the consequences, nor are you able or willing to pay the fee for which to keep your neighborhood "pest" free, without killing the cats in an immoral way, bite the fucking bullet. They get to stay. If you or your neighbors had any sense, they would have called the ASPCA by now.

[zoobernut]

Or you could do what others have suggested and CALL THE ASPCA! I don't know about where you live but here if you go to the ASPCA they will loan you the traps to catch stray cats! For free.

Then once you catch the cats you can hand them over to the ASPCA or to animal control.

[Venture]

Yeah, I don't really fancy this situation anymore. I've been working under the assumption all day that the guys who have been pushing the idea have exhausted all their avenues in seeking outside help from animal control groups to be pushing for us to take care of our business like this. I have my doubts now, so i'm gonna make some calls on my own like suggested and see what can be done from my own and verify that we are indeed at this point in the problem.

Either way, i'm not gonna support them in it anymore. I really jumped into it because the one cat, the mental-issue cat, has been notoriously bad this month about taking his trash from the dumpster and perching on my doorstep with it like it's his personal pad, mewing at the walls at 3 AM for hours at end, coming back even though I run him off late at night repeatedly, and generally keeping me from good rest and peace of mind to the point I just got tired, frustrated, and wanted to be rid of him.

I've got some good suggestions from friends about how to get the situation fixed on a city political level if this is indeed a failure of our animal services to leave us with these measures to deal with strays. So, good thread, i'd think. One actually suggested a heavy cardboard box, a piece of string, a stick to prop it up with, and some bait. That's not a bad idea, but he also mentioned that if they won't catch the stray themselves as animal control, they prolly won't pick up a cat that's not in a pre-approved, regulation cage, either, so lawl...governments.

[archibaldcrane]

Needs more:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ne/opossum.jpg
Was living under my parents' deck with a couple henchmen for a while. Hard to shake out of a cage into the woods when they wrap those little tails around the bars of the cage.

[Krye]

And now because of some feral cats in the area, my cat was scratched or attacked by one of them, or by a local neighbor's cat in play, and contracted Feline AIDS. So now I have to take care of him till he gets too sick to move, or till he goes off on his own to die in peace and comfort, and I can now be held legally responsible if someone else's cat contracts it by state law

Man, if only there was someone that was a good shot with a pellet gun who could quickly and safely eliminate the threat of those feral cats. Could've saved your cat some AIDS.

Amazingly enough, I happen to be quite a good shot with a rifle and pistol, however, I've never seen the cats, nor can I can control my own cat while he's outside. Nor would I harm an animal like a cat or dog in any way even if they might be trouble unless they physically attacked me, then its only self defense.

Call the ASPCA, they'll be glad to take the cats for free to protect them.

Edit: If you're having a moral issue, and you're not willing to deal with the consequences, nor are you able or willing to pay the fee for which to keep your neighborhood "pest" free, without killing the cats in an immoral way, bite the fucking bullet. They get to stay. If you or your neighbors had any sense, they would have called the ASPCA by now.

You're fucking sick, I'm disgusted that somebody like you would own animals and practically advocate diseasing them. If you're not willing to protect your animals, you shouldn't get them in the first place.

EDIT: And it has been mentioned that the cats are attacking children and you want them to stay? What the fuck is wrong with you?