Hello,
We received a complaint from a neighboring party that our cats are defecating on their property—directly in front of their front door and next to their car. They say there is now a constant smell of feces, which wasn’t the case before we moved here.
I actually like these people, but in this situation, I don’t know what to do. We have been asked to stop this or take action against it. However, I don’t know what I could do about it. The cats (two of them) have been outdoor cats for over 10 years, and I can’t suddenly keep them indoors. They are offered a litter box (also outside), but they obviously prefer not to use it. I also can’t imagine it was our cats in this specific case. The area in front of their door and next to the cars is covered with gravel and is right next to the street. Cats don’t usually behave that way, do they? Our cats have always preferred to do their business somewhere secluded where they can bury it in soil or gardens. The neighbor claims to have seen our cats doing it. I have received no proof of this. Even if it were our cats, I believe legally this wouldn’t be relevant.
Now, to make matters worse, they have dumped a large amount of feces directly in front of our garage on the driveway. We are really upset about this. First of all, there is no evidence that it was our cats. What is on the board there, in my opinion, doesn’t even look like cat feces, at least not like those of our cats. It’s far too much, the color is wrong, and it looks too large. I also find it really disrespectful to take such a passive-aggressive measure based on pure assumptions.
The legal situation seems pretty clear here. We live in a rural area; various cats roam freely in this neighborhood (including on our property) and defecate wherever they want. There are numerous court rulings stating that this kind of behavior must be tolerated in rural areas. I believe this applies up to two cats per property.
I have now asked them to stop dumping feces of unknown origin on our property in the future. Of course, if it happens again, I could potentially take legal action with a cease-and-desist letter. However, that would certainly not be good for the neighborly relationship. Unfortunately, we have had problems with this party before. Back then, we decided to let it go for the sake of peace. They complained that our construction workers had blocked their parking. I passed this on to my site manager, who was very upset since it apparently was an exaggeration—I wasn’t present that day. Anyway, this was stopped, and the issue ended there. What I found interesting even then was that shortly after their complaint about the one-time parking incident, they placed a pallet on our property without asking, which stayed there for several weeks. I said nothing—I didn’t want to cause trouble with them—but given their own petty complaint, I found that quite cheeky. I thought that was behind us and that we would always greet each other politely. Then today this complaint about the cats arrived. How would you handle this?
Edit: Here is a photo – Exhibit A:
What I do not want:
- Them to continue dumping feces of unknown origin on our property
- To destroy the neighborly relationship
- To have to keep or give away my cats
We received a complaint from a neighboring party that our cats are defecating on their property—directly in front of their front door and next to their car. They say there is now a constant smell of feces, which wasn’t the case before we moved here.
I actually like these people, but in this situation, I don’t know what to do. We have been asked to stop this or take action against it. However, I don’t know what I could do about it. The cats (two of them) have been outdoor cats for over 10 years, and I can’t suddenly keep them indoors. They are offered a litter box (also outside), but they obviously prefer not to use it. I also can’t imagine it was our cats in this specific case. The area in front of their door and next to the cars is covered with gravel and is right next to the street. Cats don’t usually behave that way, do they? Our cats have always preferred to do their business somewhere secluded where they can bury it in soil or gardens. The neighbor claims to have seen our cats doing it. I have received no proof of this. Even if it were our cats, I believe legally this wouldn’t be relevant.
Now, to make matters worse, they have dumped a large amount of feces directly in front of our garage on the driveway. We are really upset about this. First of all, there is no evidence that it was our cats. What is on the board there, in my opinion, doesn’t even look like cat feces, at least not like those of our cats. It’s far too much, the color is wrong, and it looks too large. I also find it really disrespectful to take such a passive-aggressive measure based on pure assumptions.
The legal situation seems pretty clear here. We live in a rural area; various cats roam freely in this neighborhood (including on our property) and defecate wherever they want. There are numerous court rulings stating that this kind of behavior must be tolerated in rural areas. I believe this applies up to two cats per property.
I have now asked them to stop dumping feces of unknown origin on our property in the future. Of course, if it happens again, I could potentially take legal action with a cease-and-desist letter. However, that would certainly not be good for the neighborly relationship. Unfortunately, we have had problems with this party before. Back then, we decided to let it go for the sake of peace. They complained that our construction workers had blocked their parking. I passed this on to my site manager, who was very upset since it apparently was an exaggeration—I wasn’t present that day. Anyway, this was stopped, and the issue ended there. What I found interesting even then was that shortly after their complaint about the one-time parking incident, they placed a pallet on our property without asking, which stayed there for several weeks. I said nothing—I didn’t want to cause trouble with them—but given their own petty complaint, I found that quite cheeky. I thought that was behind us and that we would always greet each other politely. Then today this complaint about the cats arrived. How would you handle this?
Edit: Here is a photo – Exhibit A:
What I do not want:
- Them to continue dumping feces of unknown origin on our property
- To destroy the neighborly relationship
- To have to keep or give away my cats
Pinkiponk schrieb:
That was my first thought as well.
@kati1337: If you or your husband want to handle this emotionally, you could directly ask the neighbors to inform you if any feces are found on their property again. You would then collect it, bag it, and send it to a lab. That way the neighbors will know that if they lied about seeing *your* cats, their lie will be exposed and they will likely stop making such claims. Depending on how your cats look, it might simply be a case of mistaken identity.
Otherwise, I agree with you that at the locations you described, it’s more likely to be martens, hedgehogs, or other wildlife, rather than cats.
Still, I would consider sending the feces found on your driveway to a lab, even if you don’t communicate it to anyone right away. I looked into it, and the test costs €85 (about $91), which is honestly a bit too expensive for me, especially since the result doesn’t really provide any conclusive proof either way. Also, multiple samples are needed and they have to be kept cooled, and I’m not about to store this stuff in my fridge...
I’ve decided to wait and not waste any more time on this nonsense. If I see them again, we can talk about it then. But I do have to deal with what other animals (whether neighborhood pets or wildlife) leave on my property, and I’m not going to get involved in this childish behavior they started. I’ll ignore it as long as possible, and if it gets out of hand, we’ll consider legal steps. It doesn’t have to mean going to a lawyer right away; they could be formally warned in writing to stay off the property, a camera could be installed if needed, and in a worst-case scenario, the police could be involved. Before that, I’d try discussing it with the local mayor.
But we’re definitely not going to become the waste collectors for everyone’s pets on the street in the long term.
chand1986 schrieb:
What does that mean exactly? There is nothing "natural" in the sense of "like in the wild" about what we do with pets—whether prey or predator.Cats roam outside and defecate wherever other animals do. Wherever they happen to be standing, walking, or flying.If someone creates a sandbox, they have to accept that all kinds of animals will dig in it or use it as a toilet. If you want a sterile environment, you need to enclose the area or install deterrents, such as a marten repellent. Alternatively, for that kind of person, a concrete bunker might be an option.
If someone keeps quails, mice, rats, chickens, etc., they must ensure that wild animals cannot access them. "Fox, you’ve stolen the goose" is not exactly a new story.
Enjoy the popcorn.
C
chand19869 Oct 2023 19:45OWLer schrieb:
Cats roam outside and defecate wherever other animals do. Wherever they happen to be standing, walking, or flying around.
If someone creates a sandpit, they have to accept that all animals will dig in it or poop there. If you want to live in a sterile environment, you need to fence yourself in or install deterrents, such as a marten repellent device. An alternative for this type of person might be living in a concrete bunker.
If someone keeps quail, mice, rats, chickens, etc., they must ensure that wild animals cannot get to them. “Fox, you’ve stolen the goose” is not a new story.
Enjoy your popcorn. You’re spoiling my popcorn ;-).
I agree with what you wrote here. But this has NOTHING to do with “species-appropriate” housing—I thought, based on that term, something completely different would follow.
H
HoisleBauer229 Oct 2023 20:41My suggestion: Offer the neighbors to set up a wildlife camera (about 80 - 300€) in their garden to record which animal is leaving the droppings. Do the same in your own garden. If you know the cat’s owner, you could ask them to regularly clean up the droppings at the place where they occur. If this is not done or the owner is uncooperative, I would set up a live trap (around 70€) and “take care” of the animal for a few days. Then wait and see what happens, and watch the owner’s reaction when you put the cage in front of their door – that would actually be my favorite approach 🙂 For dogs, putting up a sign in the garden with a message like “Toxic treats for free” ;-)
Oh, and: If I had too much time, I would combine a wildlife camera with a mini sprinkler system to scare the animal away with water.
Oh, and: If I had too much time, I would combine a wildlife camera with a mini sprinkler system to scare the animal away with water.
H
HoisleBauer229 Oct 2023 20:46Additional option: One could also ask the cat owner to install a litter box in their own garden, which they would then have to clean regularly.
Well, most of this is nonsense. Animal cruelty is a criminal offense, so I won’t go into detail here. Non-harmful deterrence (your idea with water is both cheap and simple – I believe it’s called a heron scare device or something similar) is also not a problem if someone wants to use it. We even provide an outdoor litter box. But cats living freely outdoors don’t just quickly run home to do their business.
I also don’t understand where this expectation comes from that simply identifying a cat owner – that is, the owner of a cat in ONE instance – should lead to any claims against them. Courts of first instance have been debating this for decades, and the overwhelming majority of rulings have established that tolerating one or two cats per property – including their droppings – is acceptable. Only in exceptional cases, where people kept large numbers of cats and significant negative impact on neighboring properties was demonstrated, has a cat owner been required to take action. The almost unanimous judicial opinion so far is that cats are part of (rural) life and are not grounds for complaint to a certain extent.
I also have to clean up what neighbor cats leave on my property, but I just don’t get the idea of looking for someone to blame and putting it right on their doorstep.
I also don’t understand where this expectation comes from that simply identifying a cat owner – that is, the owner of a cat in ONE instance – should lead to any claims against them. Courts of first instance have been debating this for decades, and the overwhelming majority of rulings have established that tolerating one or two cats per property – including their droppings – is acceptable. Only in exceptional cases, where people kept large numbers of cats and significant negative impact on neighboring properties was demonstrated, has a cat owner been required to take action. The almost unanimous judicial opinion so far is that cats are part of (rural) life and are not grounds for complaint to a certain extent.
I also have to clean up what neighbor cats leave on my property, but I just don’t get the idea of looking for someone to blame and putting it right on their doorstep.
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