Cat breeding out of control, but cats' owner known - any advice please

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Midline spay is the covert trapper's stock in trade. 

[Ann Clarke (Tabby cat)]

sometimes we get young cats in that we don't know are owned, and sometimes we have to just trap and spay them and let them go - I think sometimes they must be owned but because they are not chipped, its impossible to know who they might belong to......

nuff said

I was thinking the same thing, unless cats are chipped there is no way of proving who they belong to  I also agree that under the Animal Welfare Act these cats are not being treated as they should be so the RSPCA should be able to do something about it. Good luck, I hope something can be sorted.

[StreetKatzRescue]

I think if you take an owned cat and have it neutered without the owner's consent, then it can be classed as criminal damage (the said cat being defined as a "possession").  So I think the RSPCA route suggested by Jackspratt is probably the best one to go for.  However, if all the trapping was done on the nursing home site and at their behest and the cats are feral, then perhaps ownership could not be proved. 

If the RSPCA route doesn't work or is too slow, what I would be inclined to do is to set up the trapping with the consent of the nursing home, then do a leaflet drop in the area, including the "owner", to say that you are trapping in the area on such and such a day and time and please keep your cats in if at all possible.  I doubt very much if he will be able to do that.  It's also a good idea to put a statistic on the leaflet eg one unneutered female cat can be responsible for the birth of 20,000 in 6 years (or whatever that statistic is!).  Most reasonable people respond to that and may even put pressure on the "owner" to co-operate.

The nursing home is really the key to this and even mutterings of environmental health issue might help.

Good luck - it's a tricky one!

[LesleyW]

sometimes we get young cats in that we don't know are owned, and sometimes we have to just trap and spay them and let them go - I think sometimes they must be owned but because they are not chipped, its impossible to know who they might belong to......

nuff said

That's the way I was thinking Angie, thanks.

[Angiew]

sometimes we get young cats in that we don't know are owned, and sometimes we have to just trap and spay them and let them go - I think sometimes they must be owned but because they are not chipped, its impossible to know who they might belong to......

nuff said

[Tan]

   man.  No respect, no responsibility 

I am not sure hun where ya stand but hopefully if the Nursing home can "complain" & other homes around  to RSPCA, surely they have to force something on him to have then spayed & Neutered?

I feel so for you as you and other rescues near you.     

[JackSpratt]

Taken from the Animal Welfare Act on the RSPCA site:

The five welfare needs

This means pet owners are now legally obliged to care for their pet properly - which most owners already do - by providing these five basic needs:
 
somewhere suitable to live
 
a proper diet, including fresh water
 
the ability to express normal behaviour
 
for any need to be housed with, or apart from, other animals
 
protection from, and treatment of, illness and injury.

If the cats look underfed and are regularly in RTA's as far as I can see the "owner" is neglecting his duty on the last one. Might be worth trying?
 

[LesleyW]

I have been called out to the Nursing Home again across from the Veterinary Hospital where I work.  They are over-run with kittens again and have asked for my help.


The history of the site is that the owner of the cats lives in two caravans at the back of the Nursing Home.  The cats are allowed to roam and are all un-neutered.  The RSPCA called last year and offered to help him with getting the cats neutered for free but he refused.


The cats are being hit by cars on the main road next to the Nursing Home and the Nursing Home staff are feeding them as they appear quite skinny and spend the majority of their time on the Nursing Home grounds.  They bring their kittens to the nursing home and most of them are quite feral and unhandleable.  I know the RSPCA would probably tell them to stop feeding them but then they may have a problem with the cats getting into bins etc anyway and how can you tell someone to stop feeding a cat they see in their grounds who looks desperate for food?


If the owner refuses to get them neutered is there anything else that can be done.  Say we captured them and had them neutered, are we then breaking the law.  If I contacted CP for neutering vouchers for a feral colony could this cause problems if the owner caught us doing it?


I am going to try and find out who the local RSPCA Inspector is in the area and have a word.  The Nursing Home are also contacting the RSPCA again and also the  Blue Cross to see if they have room to take any kittens that we can catch as I am full here.


Any advice on this case from CP members or other rescuers would be greatly appreciated.