The Dutch law is failing again...

My dad visited me yesterday and proudly told me he set a mousetrap for the neighbor's cat, and couldn't hold his laughter when he reached the point in his story of how the cat screamed when it stepped on it. He even added that he's planning on catching it a few more times until it learns to stay out of his garden.

I looked at options to file a report and police actually has a dedicated animal abuse department. But the actions they can take are limited to taking custody of an abused animal and forbid an abuser to purchase any other animals. My dad does not own a cat and doesn't want any, so that's not going to make any difference. If police take custody, that's only going to make my dad happy and hurt his neighbors unfairly.

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NudasPriest · 46-50, M

I don't condone the cruelty, but do you think your dad should have to put up with somebody else's cat in his garden?

LordShadowfire · M

@NudasPriest Of course not, but there are other ways. He could have gotten a motion activated sprinkler. That would startle the cat and send it running without hurting it.

NerdyPotato · M

@NudasPriest no, but as @LordShadowfire said: there are other ways to keep the cat out of his garden. And he also goes out of his way to spray it with water when it's sleeping across the street. That has nothing to do with his garden. He just enjoys annoying the cat.

HootyTheNightOwl

@NudasPriest Given that dad in this story is going so far out of his way to attack this cat, I'm not fully convinced that the problem is "She's in my garden again".

The fact that he is using mousetraps could be fatal for this cat, too. All it takes is for an infection to set in at the site of a wound - and, if he's using methods that physically harms animals in his garden... what stops him from putting poison down next???

I'm not sure how Dutch law works, but pets are typically seen as property of the owner in many countries - so, if the owner does find out that it's dad... he could potentially be reported for damage/destruction of property should anything happen to our cat.

LordShadowfire · M

@NerdyPotato I know he's your dad, so let me know if I'm out of line here, but I'd really just want to do everything to him that he's done to that poor animal.

NudasPriest · 46-50, M

@LordShadowfire @NerdyPotato @HootyTheNightOwl As I said, I don't condone the cruelty, and spraying the cat when it's not on his property is also out of line. I just wish that cat owners would keep better control of their pets. Cat poo in the garden can lead to potentially fatal toxoplasmosis, so the risk goes both ways.

NerdyPotato · M

@LordShadowfire you're not out of line. I'd even help you.