Town limits cat ownership?

[pomtzu]

I guess if you feed strays, they're considered to be yours.

Yup - that's the stupid law in Delaware. If you provide food for a stray for 3 days - then you are considered the owner and responsible for the animal. That's how I ended up in court! Great message being sent. Send Animal Control to issue a summons because I was trying to help a cat in distress, but don't take the time to send Animal Control after the people that abuse and neglect animals. What's wrong with that picture???

[Freedom]

Several of you mentioned, just pay the $50. Not that easy. it is a kennel license, which means you MUST have certain facilities. No idea what that would be for cats. For dogs they want runs, indoor / outdoor areas, fencing, and so forth.

Same law here, if you feed ferals, they are considered yours. You have to have proof of spay / neuter, rabies shots and so forth. Some areas, the law allows if you are working with a feral cat rescue, and it is the folks who try to go it alone who end up in trouble. With a rescue, you get the ear tipping so everyone can tell which cat has been fixed. Still hard to show up to date rabies.

It is quite frustrating, and I am surprised she wasn't grandfathered in when they changed the law in Dudley Mass. Every city and town here in RI is different. One will say 3 dogs, 5 cats max; the very next one will be 4 dogs, 3 cats max.

Some have antihoarding laws rather than a set limit. Which is also ticky to comply with. I have 10 cats, all vetted, up to date, fixed, and the house is spotless. Yet I COULD be considered a hoarder if the Animal Control Officer wanted to interpret it that way.

As usual, the problem starts a few steps back, with cat owners who let their cats out to roam, cats which are not fixed. One stray meets another, over a dinner of mouse tartare, under the moonlight and next thing you know, there is a litter of kittens out side.

[Medusa]

As usual, the problem starts a few steps back, with cat owners who let their cats out to roam, cats which are not fixed. One stray meets another, over a dinner of mouse tartare, under the moonlight and next thing you know, there is a litter of kittens out side.

Exactly. I often wonder, though, how farmers get away w/it. One woman that I spoke with told me that the cats at her farm numbered into the hundreds now and she couldn't afford to vet them and have them altered. She could barely afford to feed them all. If she had listened to me when she had around a dozen or so, the problem could have been averted or at least lessened in severity. Cat people are called crazy, hoarders, etc. but most of us are just trying, usually in vain, to clean up other people's messes.

[Freedom]

Mary, remember that not all those cats came from the original few. For some reason, folks seem to think it is OK to drop their excess cats and kittens at the local farm, without even notifying the farm family.