Neighbors Dog - Page 3

Cheryl,

You are a good person for trying to help the kitten.  Cats are difficult to keep contained unless never let outside.  I have inside only house and barn cats both.  I've lost a few barn cats to neighbor dogs, not the dogs fault as the cats went on their property.   I do agree she should have at least come to see what the dog was attacking.

Good luck with the fence solutions.  It's a pain sometimes........

Again stupid owner.  Does she know that she now has to take her dog to the vet for a booster rabies as well?  Given the unknown history of the stray cat?  For crying out loud even if it was a groundhog, wouldn't you be worried about your dog getting hurt!

People will never cease to amaze me. 

Renofan2, you are a caring person, what folks need for a neighbor.  What goes around comes around and you will be in store for many good things in your life in the future because you practice the "golden rule" of treating others the way you would like to be treated.  And your kindness to animals is most excellent.

You don't want to lose two feet of your property by allowing the neighhbor to "use" it for seven years (common law in many states).  So you need to consult with an attorney and have a letter sent to the neighbor. This can be done in a low key friendly way, just explaining to that neighbor, or having your attorney put it in a letter, that not to correct the boundary problem on the lot now can cause very serious problems if and when you try and sell your property, even causing lost sales at the last minute and near impossible to remedy in short order (something similar to this happened to me years ago and it was a real mess.).  

Then build a secure fence and put an electric fence wire for dogs (low powered but gives a fair jolt) on top of the fence.  One dose will stop any climber, be it human, dog or animal.

Every day I thank God that I have caring, dog owning neighbours on both sides of my suburban lot!

I have just come back from 2 days away at a dog show with my year-old female, and my neighbour has taken my male GSD in to his own home, so he can play with his female GSD. When I see what a swamp my backyard is after 2 days of rain, I am VERY grateful for this. (His yard is in better shape, as he only has one dog, and looks after his grass, which the former owner of this property did not. He also has a better drained lot.)

Renofan, good for you for caring. But get the neighbour to move his fence, as after a certain number of years, he can claim squatter's rights on your land. (At least, that's the law where I live!)

I think the building inspector will hopefully be able to give you some guideance.  Our local inspector is a real nice guy; ironically he used to be into the GSD's and was a helper in SCH so we had much to talk about.  When I built my house I had some issues with this psycho that lived next door claiming we had put our fence on his property.  Hell he even claimed we built our house on his property. lol  The inspector nipped that all in the bud one day when he came out with his tape measure and a copy of our survey to confirm the fence was where it was to be.  It never went any further.  But some inspector's don't like to get involved in "disputes" so they will refer the parties to take up the dispute in civil court.  I don't think in your situation it would be necessary to even take it that far if you have an inspector who is willing to do his job. 

That's the thing when you buy a house in a suburban area...you just don't know what you're neighbor's are gonna be like.  Some people are just ignorant and a pain in the ass! lol

God bless you Renofan2, for your kindness and mercy to that poor young cat.  It's so painful to think of what it went through I just want to cry.  But know that you got it help and pain meds.  Believe me, I understand that many of us simply could not pay a $1,000 bill and you jumped right in and did the RIGHT thing for the right reason.

I do understand that you might've made the decision once all injuries were known to euthanize rather than run up thousands of dollars in medical bills for a stray cat (and it probably was indeed someone's pet).  I wonder if an area cat fanciers club or Siberian Husky club or all-breed club would've helped?  Even if members just gave $5 or $10 it would've helped?

TessJ10:

Luckily I am blessed with some very caring, generous friends.  I had called one late that morning and she was willing to share the expenses with me to save the kitten and was willing to take her home and help her recover until we could find either her owner or a new home. 

Again, thanks everyone for the great advice about the fence and property line.  I never thought to go to the building inspector at our township building, but will go there on Wed to find out the best way to solve this problem.  Hopefully I can have this problem solved quickly to avoid any further issues.  For now - 100% supervision of my dogs while outside in the yard is a must.  I used to leave them in the corral because cleaning the house with 3 gsd's under foot messing it up as you go along is not productive!  I will just have to live with a dirty house until this is solved.

Regards and thank you again,

Cheryl

God bless you Renofan, for caring for that kitten! Here's my take on the event...yes, the kitty should not have been there...but sometimes we are tested, by whom or what ever, (I think by God) to see how we will respond. Compassion should always be the first reaction. Too often, we let anger or frustration, or apathy guide our actions. You chose to act with compassion, and that sets you apart as a special person. On a less ethereal note-how about blackberry or raspberry bushes between the 2 fences? They need little care beside trimming, are full of thorns that deter even the stubbornest dogs,(and kids!), and will grow to fill the space, discouraging anything from getting too close, and they flower in the spring! jh

The problem is that cats are free to roam and their owners take no responsability. We have nice neighbors but some of them have 4-5 cats that run free, crap all over my yard, climb on my cars and boat etc. They are not fixed and keep on having litters. While I don't want a cat to get hurt you can't expect a non-owner to pay $1000.00 vet bill on a stray cat. If they want too great but most people don't have $1000 to throw away.

We need laws to make cat owners take responsability and control their cats. Don't blame a dog who gets teased by the cats all the time; of course he will take a bite if given the chance.

Bottom line is yes alot of cats get killed and suffer because of this. Sad but true.

renofan2, you're a very good and kind person. your neighbor is a jerk. get your land back!!! as someone else said, there is such a thing as "hostile possession" or "adverse possession" (something along those lines) and if someone takes part of your property and you know it or if they pay taxes for a certain amount of time, that land becomes theirs. look into it and get your land back.

it's a terrible thing about the cat. i agree with desertranger that people need to be held accountable for their cats. i like cats alot, my last one died at 22 yrs old (a house cat only). cats who are allowed out are terrible for the environment (although the feral cat that had kittens in my neighborhood last summer gave the coyotes a fairly reliable source of food). they kill the lizards and birds and mess  up peoples cars and gardens. i hope the cat gets a good indoor home. you did a good thing, but remember "no good deed goes unpunished"