Speaking about cats: trap and release far away

[gadje]

My sister (living abroad) is dealing with an interesting cat situation. People over there let the cats go out and of course cats being cats, they go into other people's back yards. That is normal over there.

One day cats started disappearing one every few days. People looked at their security cameras and saw one of the neighbors with putting a cage into his car and driving away at night. It turns out this guy catches cats that venture on his property and drives away with them. No one know for sure, but they suspect he doesn't harm the cats, instead he releases the cats in some place away from home.

People are upset about this. One lady is widow and she sleeps with her cat after her husband died. now she is alone in her bed. Older lady, she seems quite upset about this. They went to the police station and filed a complain, but police said the video is blurry and not enough proof that it was her cat in the cage, etc. etc. Basically the police is either not interested in solving the case, or they feel there is not enough evidence.

I am also not sure what the laws are over there, maybe the guy has a point, but in general it is perfectly acceptable to let cats go around the neighborhood.

I am curious if cats will find their way home.

[hal]

"My sister (living abroad) is dealing with an interesting cat situation. People over there let the cats go out and of course cats being cats, they go into other people's back yards. That is normal over there."

Do you mean there are places where this isn't the norm? How does one stop a cat from going into the yard next door?

I would be hounding the police daily about this.

[edit] - that awesome pun was not intentional

[ka jowct]

This is incredibly cruel, and the guy should be TNR'd by the neighborhood.

[PeterB]

ka jowct wrote:
This is incredibly cruel, and the guy should be TNR'd by the neighborhood.

Agree with ka jot on this one, and I just posted in my post below, a link to my local TNR org, which has this to say about it:

https://www.trapdatcat.org/frequently-asked-questions
(scroll to the bottom of the page)

[anonymouse1]

Has anyone in the neighborhood spoken with this man? That would be my first step. He may think he's doing something good...

[gadje]

anonymouse1 wrote:
Has anyone in the neighborhood spoken with this man? That would be my first step. He may think he's doing something good...

yes, I forgot to mention that, they spoke to him first, he admitted trapping the cats but refuses to say where he took them. Then they went to the police.

[bfd]

These people can't keep their cats inside? Seems like an easy fix if they really care about them. But then there are all those who believe that cats have a right/need to be outside. Maybe it's a cultural thing.

Too much data to ignore that indicates clearly that indoor cats can live twice as long as outdoor cats, that they are far less of a burden on the environment (particularly bird populations), and that they don't add to the overpopulation of feral cats - among many other benefits (including not losing them to larger natural predators, or this guy who's trapping them and rehoming them).

[Speedy]

For feral or uncontained domestic cats:

Step one:


Step two:

[$tevie]

hal wrote:
"My sister (living abroad) is dealing with an interesting cat situation. People over there let the cats go out and of course cats being cats, they go into other people's back yards. That is normal over there."

Do you mean there are places where this isn't the norm? How does one stop a cat from going into the yard next door?

I would be hounding the police daily about this.

[edit] - that awesome pun was not intentional

I believe he meant that letting cats go out is the norm over there. That's not nearly as common in the US as it once was.

[August West]

Bad things should befall the dude.