A neighbors threatening letter to a Brisbane feline owner has caused a stir online, because the age-old debate of whether cats must be allowed outside unsupervised continues.
The feud between the 2 residents began when the neighbor approached the Brisbane woman over the weekend to tell her that her feline was entering their backyard to “pick a fight” with their cat.
In consequence, the “mortified and apologetic” cat owner immediately covered the cat flap on the backdoor to avoid her delinquent cat from escaping, in what she thought was the precise thing to do.
But the subsequent day, the cat owner received a mildly highlighted council printout on controlling cat behavior, with an “abusive” note written on the back of it which she claims is allegedly from her neighbor.
“Control your animals or they are going to disappear!” the note said.
In hope of looking for some advice on what to do in such a situation, the letter’s recipient shared a photograph of the note to online forum platform Reddit.
After explaining the circumstances across the letter, the “rescue trash cat” owner admitted that the home’s casement windows were the issue and was looking for guidance on whether installing a digital fence would help rectify the problem.
The post soon gained greater than 800 comments, but not all were in support of the feline owner causing a bitter virtual dispute between Brisbane cat and dog lovers.
Those who were extremely against the thought of letting cats roam free “implored” residents to borrow cat traps from their council in order that they might capture them and take them to the pound.
“I don‘t mind the inconvenience of taking the cats I catch into the council. My neighborhood advantages from every cat that’s off the streets,” they commented.
Meanwhile, others labelled cats as “killers” with some doing their research on how much wildlife outdoor felines attack on average.
“Cats are killers, it‘s not the flavour of the month. There’s undisputed evidence that the wildlife is suffering due to cat owners. You’re being willingly ignorant on a crucial topic,” one reddit user said.
One other added: “‘On average, cats kill 2.92 million mammals, 1.67 million reptiles, 1.09 million birds, 0.26 million frogs and a couple of.97 million invertebrates every 24 hours.’ This includes roaming pet cats,” they said, quoting data from the Invasive Species Council.
Another commenters blatantly blamed the owner for letting her cat escape, despite it being the fault of a tradie who by chance left the garage door open.
“Best bet is to maintain your cat inside or enclosed outside. Doing the precise thing from the beginning would have avoided the problems in the primary place,” a reddit user said.
“You own the cat and it’s your responsibility to maintain that cat on your personal property … If I discovered a cat had done something to my bird I’d see red I can inform you that much,” a parrot owner commented.
Amongst the size of quarrelsome comments, some Brisbanian reddit user were sympathetic to the recipient of the note.
“I feel you’re doing the precise thing. Sorry you needed to cope with this, I can be mortified if I got that letter,” read a more supportive comment.
“You’re doing rather well and tbh (to be honest) your neighbor must be keeping their cat indoors too? Accidents occur, what matters is the work you might be doing,” said one other.
Others suggested that responsible cat ownership goes each ways and that the neighbor also needs to keep their cat inside in the event that they don’t want it to get attacked by another person’s cat.
Based on Brisbane City Council, cat-owners are required to microchip, register and supply an adequate enclosure for his or her cat.
While it’s unknown which local government area the resident belongs to, the cat owner has stated that she is complying with these rules.
“She’s a rescue street cat and I’m doing all the things in my power to maintain her in, wanting suggestions on easy methods to keep her in or if those digital barriers work,” the owner commented.
“My animals are f****** registered and fully insured and fed premium quality food so get off telling me I’m irresponsible after I’m literally attempting to act as responsibly as possible here.”
The web site also states that cats are permitted outside in the event that they are in an enclosed space and don’t cause a nuisance to their neighbors.
If an annoyance is caused, the council advises that the affected person goes and speaks with the cat owner first before taking any further motion.
“There are many ways a cat owner can safely contain a cat to their property and there are many options that could possibly be considered including but not limited to: Provide further stimulation, keeping the cat indoors, modifying existing fencing or (by) providing prefabricated cat runs,” Brisbane City Council’s website states.
Despite the controversy, the letter’s recipient appeared to get in the ultimate word, stating that she has ordered a digital fence as a “backup solution” and has completely removed the cat flap.
“Obviously this was gonna bring out the cat haters and I must have expected as much. Because of everyone who gave constructive advice,” she said.