In a previous residence there were eight outdoor cats living out of two homes.
One couple owned four cats that roamed the neighbourhood. My daughter’s basement room smelled like feces because the neighbours’ cats were using the dry dirt under her window as a litter box. I put tarpaper down all along the area. When I asked the neighbour if he could put out a litter box, he told me in a hostile voice they were outside cats.
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When I landscaped my present home I put chicken wire all around my shrubs to deter the cats from using the bark mulch as a litter box, but they always found spots to use. Every time I weed or prune my plantings I first have to pick up cat feces.
A neighbour had a pile of sand he used for his potter hobby and he had to pick out cat feces before using it. His disabled wife enjoyed watching the birds at their bird-feeder. One day she witnessed the neighbour’s cat kill three birds in one hour and she could not jump up to scare the cat away.
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Another neighbour with two dogs has to go out in his own backyard and pick up what the cats leave behind before he lets his dogs out or they will eat it.
Dog owners are required to pick up after their dogs. It is time cat owners had the same responsibility, but you can’t walk a cat.
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We no longer live on farms and it is time for everyone to take responsibility for their pets. I used to love waking up to the sound of birds, but I notice there is no longer much birdsong.
Claudia Parfitt
Saanich