Well, well, well. This topic has been discussed before and I suspect no one answer is "the answer". One would hope that each person would be able to judge each situation accordingly.

I keep my cats inside for the most part. Two of mine, the Abys, are not outside cats, personality wise. They are a mess and won't come in for days, if they get out. Lucy, the big black barn cat is in and out all day long when I am home. She is in a night! Why you ask? There are wolves, foxes etc. in my town and I don't want her to be part of the food chain.

One would think that most owners would want what is best for their pet - for them to be safe and to not prey on other animals/birds etc. You cannot mandate this...just hope for their common sense to kick in early in their pet ownership.

It is my opinion that if someone leaves their pet out all night, they (the pets) are free game, to be trapped by someone bothered by them, eaten by a bigger animal, hit by a car....... Unfortunately not everyone goes to the trouble to spay and neuter their pets....creating a horror of horrors for those of us trying to get a good night's sleep. Not to mention the creation of new, and for the most part, unwanted animals. Ugh.


So I vote for a trap, neuter program in your neighborhood. I did it years ago, and we have not had problems since then. That is not to say that we don't have a stray cat or two from time to time, we do. Just not herds of cats like we did before. I also went to a couple of farmers in the area and asked them to take their cats to the free/cheap spay neuter clinic.

I feel your pain. Not everyone cares much about their neighbors' sleep.....but that is life. I hope you get help with this problem, as the animals will benefit in the long run too.