Living in the country has its perks. I would have a hard time living in town. I love the open space, views and wildlife. What I find a problem is that some folks feel that since they live in the country they can do whatever they like and don’t have any regard for their neighbors. They let their dogs run loose to chase people riding their bikes, joggers or cars and you try not to run them over. Dogs barking all day and night was a problem also. The county commissioners finally put an end to this by passing laws compelling pet owners to take responsibility and give neighbors some recourse.
Commissioners have not dealt with irresponsible cat owners who have anywhere from five to 15 and more cats. They refuse to fix them so they just keep multiplying. I think it’s a safe bet that they don’t vaccinate them either. Domestic and feral cats kill millions of birds a year, besides spreading disease.
A responsible cat owner would put a bell on the cat to give the birds a fighting chance. Cats are the best hunters there are. These cat owners let their cats overrun your property, defecate all over, kill birds that come to your feeder and spread disease by their defecation. You can take neighbors to court if you can prove that they are causing damage. The victim becomes the “bad” person when they try and rid their property of unwanted cats. What about our private property rights? Our right to keep unwanted neighbors cats off our land?
Our animal shelter does a great job, but the number of cats I see running around places an unnecessary burden on the shelter when all it takes is people taking responsibility for their animals. You don’t need 20 cats to control mice. There is freedom of choice, but that choice should not become someone else’s problem.
I would like to see the county take up this problem so property owners can have some recourse for our land being inundated by unwanted neighbors’ cats.
Larry Berger
Cortez