Dilemma - unneutered stray

[Mark]

I have to say I really, really don't like lending out traps unless we have a plan to deal with the cat when it's caught. More than once people have trapped cats then dumped them at the vets saying "Cats Protection are taking him in"

That is exactly what this woman had in mind from what I can make out. I think she thought she was speaking to someone completely gormless and "let the cat out of the bag" when I questioned what would happen after the cat was at the vets. She obviously was making it up on the fly after first saying the RSPCA had told her her borrow a trap from us and then saying they had offered loan of a trap and to take the cat in.

[Janeyk]

We don't even have her address and at the moment can't even make any promises as the waiting list is closed until the numbers are down. One cat has been on the list since May (an owned cat) - She was really adamant that she wanted the trap to put the cat elsewhere - she was a stroppy mare.

I know for a fact that if the cat was taken, she wouldn't allow it back on her property 

  aren't some people mean? round here we've trapped quite a few cats and released them and care for them and most of us have cats of our own - well they like our own too.

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

I have to say I really, really don't like lending out traps unless we have a plan to deal with the cat when it's caught. More than once people have trapped cats then dumped them at the vets saying "Cats Protection are taking him in" and refused to have them back. One time it was a DIFFERENT rescue who loaned out the trap but the person still claimed we were dealing with the case. That then leaves the cat dumped at the vet, running us up a boarding fee and the vet gets cross because we don't have room to take it. One of our vets refuses to board any cats for us even for one night now because of these situations. 

One time of day I'd have agreed it's a good idea to trap him, get him neutered and returned until we can deal with him.... but not any more. Certainly not with someone so clearly hostile toward the cat. It just doesn't work. 

[Mark]

I think it is semi-rural - I think some of the gardens there are huge - it is quite a posh area.

[JackSpratt]

I agree with Dawn - it wouldn't have to be on her property; just in that area. But seeing as you don't have an address it's a moot point anyway really.

[Kay and Penny]

people always have the option of catproofing their garden if they want to be sure no other cat but their own use it

if they don't want to do that then they must accept that strays cannot be excluded

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

I know for a fact that if the cat was taken, she wouldn't allow it back on her property 

It's a shame you haven't got an address, he could have been trapped without her knowing and just put back once he'd been neutered    It may be worth contacting other rescues in the area and warning them that if she does ring about a trap, what her intentions are.

[Mark]

We don't even have her address and at the moment can't even make any promises as the waiting list is closed until the numbers are down. One cat has been on the list since May (an owned cat) - She was really adamant that she wanted the trap to put the cat elsewhere - she was a stroppy mare.

I know for a fact that if the cat was taken, she wouldn't allow it back on her property 

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

Can't someone just get him, get him done and just put him back and just say in the meantime, you will try and find a place for him but until then, he'll have to stay there .....at the end of the day, it's not her decision....I've had this with  the last few weeks, they've phoned me about the ferals and kittens, I've taken them until kittens are weaned and then people have whinged about the mum's going back even though they are being fed....we can only do what we can do, nothing more and nothing less   

[Mark]

I told her he would calm down. The issue is, she won't allow him to be returned - she will only do it if he can be dumped elsewhere  - she just wouldn't listen to me.

[Dawn (DiddyDawn)]

In this situation I would have offered to get the cat neutered and returned...if he's upsetting her cats, once he's done, he will probably calm down 

[Mark]

She said she puts food out "sometimes"  - Anyway, she doesn't live on Dartmoor, she lives in a nice Village that I know very well.

[Kay and Penny]

so clearly she is not feeding it, and it has been around ages, yet she thinks it can't fend for itself

I am in a very rural part of the world, and in 20 years have only known of two strays round here, both abandoned by families which have moved away - unneutered cats live on farms in groups, where they have shelter and some food provided

[Bazsmum]

....And I bet this woman thinks of herself as a cat lover! 

[Mark]

A woman phoned last week. She lives rurally and said an entire stray has been in her garden for ages and it upsets her cats. I recommended her getting it to the vet to check for chip etc. She was a bit dismissive and said "don't worry, I will sort something out"

Yesterday, the same woman (probably thinking we wouldn't know she had called twice) left a message saying the RSPCA had recommended she phoned us about borrowing a trap. When I phoned her back, she said the RSPCA had offered use of a trap and could possibly take the cat. I recommended she take them up on their offer as we don't have space. She went into a rant about the cat making her 2 cats and her own life a misery. She said her stray was different (as they always are) and really needs to be taken as she lives rurally and a stray has no way of fending for itself. We spoke about getting it to a vet to check for chip etc. She said no way would it be chipped as it wasn't even neutered. I said if you can get it to a vet and it isn't chipped, what will you do. She said no way could she bring it back to her garden and in desperation she will release it somewhere else. I said we wouldn't condone that and wouldn't lend her a trap to do it either. She said the cat would be better off dead than scavenging for food. Anyway, I recommended couple of other rescues and we left it there. Such a hard one but we just don't have anywhere for the cat and a long list of at least equally deserving cases