neighbours who hate cats!

spirit

I understand that some peoplewho have never had a cat perhaps will never understand how loving ,affectionate, intelligent, beautiful and unique each cat can be, but to be ignorant to other peoples animals with no real reason and to be cruel and to judge people because they are cat owners makes me sick!! I am so fed up with my neighbours attitude, they have constantly complained since we moved here three years ago because they just dont understand why I cant stop my cats from walking past their house, or jumping into their garden to just sit where the sun happens to be shinning. My cats have all been nuetered, one is a rescue cat and one is 13 years old we have had as a kitten, he is getting too old now to be bullied by these old nasty cat haters. They look like normal people, nice house, well dressed and all the rest, but on the inside are mortified that my cat would be allowed to sit on our party wall looking at them. the lady of the house ( if you can call her that ) thought it so rude that my cat walked in her open door to have a look at his new neighbours and to indroduce himself to them ! I am sorry but I forgot to tell him to knock first. He was shooded out with a foot up his bottom, sooty has always been friendly to people as he knows they are his friends, or so he thought, until we moved here! I have been threatened by their 40 year old son that if my cat comes on his garden, (we share a front footpath by the way ) they then belong to him, my cats that is and he will do what he like if they are on his property. friendly my neighbours arn't they. The son lives one side and the parents live the other. Oh by the way, we bought this house of the parents so they could build a retirement bungalow next to our house on a spare bit of land, they totally wrecked our drive putting their gable end up, used what was left of it to stack building bricks on it, were very nice to us while all this was going on, got the bungalow up, and then started showing there true colours. MUG, AND USED, I think is the word. What is the law where cats are concerned, I can not imagine that I now have to keep my cats locked in all day to suit these people, that would be cruel to the cats who only know this kind of life. does anyone know what I can do to protect my pets?

spottydog

It's awful when this sort of thing happens, and I am afraid they will never change. The law is on your side completely as far as I know, as owners of cats are not expected to "control" them. However, this does not remove the worry of your cats coming to harm and however much you are in the right, it doesn't help much.
Sounds like you are being harassed. In your position I would pay a visit to the Citizens Advice Bureau and find out what your options are.... apart from moving which would be the top of my list Shocked

Make a report to someone in authority so if there is ever any trouble, it has been recorded. Keep a diary of ANYTHING that they do that could build into evidence of unreasonable behaviour on their part. Most covenants on houses these days say that you are entitled to enjoy your occupation of the property free from harassment or interference which works both ways - can't remember the exact wording - if you have the contract for the purchase of your house you will probably see it in there. CAB will be able to confirm.

Good luck.

PS I had such a neighbour once who was a dog hater, she called out the RSPCA and the council just to cause trouble, accused me of throwing dog poo into her garden (sorely tempted but stayed cool) in the end I moved.
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Pretty Polly Pavey of Polidot - 06/08/1996 - 13/07/2006 - Dalspa Liquid Gold for Polidot 20/10/1999 - 08/05/2007 - Polly and Polo together again

panache

Your neighbours sound really friendly.
The law states that a cat is a domestic animal and cannot be held responsible for tresspaing.
However thanks to Animal protection,you`r neighbour(or anyone) is not allowed to make physical contact with you`r cat,by kicking,hitting,throwing stuff at it etc:.Or it is them that is breaking the law.

spirit

Thanks for the interesting advice, we are always thinking of moving but we have had alot of house moves over the years due to being a forces family in the past, so another at our age is going to be a drag but if we can sell our house quite quickly it would be the thing to do i suppose but it would give THEM great satisfaction. We did try selling twice, had a few viewings, but as we live in a villiage, people get to hear what the problems are , and these people have lived here all their lives. No one seems to be buying round here unless the propertys are cheap or reduced, perhaps it is the same everywhere and our circumstances cant allow us to reduce the house, we have spent a fortune on it. Rolling Eyes

It also has a great size cellar for my other half to store all his work gear, he is a builder, there are not many propertys around this area like it. Saying this if someone offered us a good price we would jump at it because of the neighbours. Poor sooty, he will be thinking oh not another move, he has been everywhere with us, wales. north coast of scotland, you name it!

sambo

What an awful position to be in i myself have 2 cats that love to sit and bathe on my neighbours pampus grass and the neighbour doesn't mind in the slightest in fact she finds it quite funny i did at first think she was a bit naffed off about it so apologised for it and said that if it is a problem i would try and get some cat repellent but she insisted it wasnt and jess is often found asleep upstairs on my other neighbours bed lol so thank god my neighbours are okay with the fact that cats like to roam.

But i have had problems with my left hand side neighbour who quite snottily informed me that if my cats continued to sit on my fence panel Shocked

teasing his dog that he wouldnt be to blame if his dog ripped them to shreds so i told him in a polite way of course to go away and that i couldnt help the fact that my cats sit on my fence panel looking at his stupid dog.
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spirit

hi sambo! well it is an awful position to be in. My neighbours are dog lovers, and they quite often go from parents house, down our shared front where my cats lie on the grass and purposley leave their jack russel off the lead to their sons house knowing that their dog will run over and bark and scare my old cats. There are no words to describe how I feel because there is no need for any of it and I know they are trying to drive us out , the parents used to own our house as we bought it from them and they just cant get their head round that they dont rule other peoples life styles, and this house actually belongs to us. Our border has been brought up with cats from a puppy , but I dont tolerate him chasing our cats, he might chase katie because she is timmid and if she thinks he is wanting a bit of fun with her she will run, which makes him think great! I can chase her. But the other cats just look at him and say dont be stupid, i am not afraid , and he wont bother. They are quite funny to see. I have seen the parents let their dog out the front of their bungalow just because sooty happened to walk in , it is ridiculous. This is not just about our animals though it is a war with us to get us out, perhaps we make the place look untidy. I can at least say we are not just dog lovers we are animal lovers, they are all special to us.

Nosey

Sorry to hear about the problems with your neighbours, spirit. They sound a bit sad to me. Maybe they need a life. They wouldn't like it around here as it seems like cats and foxes out number the human population.

spirit

I would rather live with cats and foxes as neighbours, perhaps I should move down where you are, sounds like fun! Cool

Nosey

It is lovely here spirit. We have badgers too and i usually see a few deer on our daily walks and i have the odd carrot or two for the horses at the local stables we pass everyday. I couldn't live anywhere else but the countryside.

dawnetta

I have never hated pets there good for people who lives by there self.also they are good for people that can't see, hear. blind, And the most important thing god made every living thinG.

sambo

Very well said dawn Wink

what pets do you have
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sambo

Sorry just realised you have added cat in your profile Embarassed

i have 2 cats 1 dog a a hamster and 2 goldfish Smile

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littlelab

Spirit

Sorry to hear about you b***dy awful neighbours, as an owner of 3 cats I know how they love to roam, I am lucky 2 of mine now are house cats, they have the option to go out but choose not to (lazy I call it Smile

).

I would be sorely tempted to make a diary of events, everytime you have a problem write it down, then after you have collated a months worth I would have a chat with your local community beat officer and ask if they can talk to your neighbours warning them that it is Anti social behaviour.

The other thing is to borrow a Really Big and agressive looking dog from someone and set it on their JR next time Laughing

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Natalie and Co xxx

sambo

sue51