[Edwood]

OK, so I've been overly patient with negligent cat owners that leave their cats outside 24/7. My wife and I are continually cleaning off our balcony floor from all the cat urine nearly every day (we found vinegar works for a few days, but that is about it).

There are the endless cat fights that wake us up in the very early morning and late at night. And there is sanitary issues with their urine and feces everywhere. (there are no litter boxes outside, so the ground and balcony is their litterbox).

I have been vocal about this in the past, but I have let it go since I didn't feel it was worth pissing off the cat owners in the complex.

Until now.

I have just received a letter of warning from my HOA about being cited for disposing of dog feces in the common area trashcans.

This claim is entirely and utterly bulls**t. (no pun intended).

So, I am going to have a nice chat with the HOA tomorrow. And now, I am going to war against all the cat owners that leave their cats outside 24/7. There is zero proof with the allegations against me, so I will gather evidence against the others. I am pretty sure that it is a disgruntled neighbor that made the claim.

There have to be some laws pertaining to animal ownership in common areas like a condominium complex where they are permitted to urinate and defacate everywhere. If it is not permitted for me to let my dog (an 8lb 15ys old Toy Poodle, yeah right, like she can wander on her own) roam free, how is it possible for people to be allowed to keep what are essentially feral cats?

There is also a little section in the CC&R By Laws that states that it is prohibited to feed pets of any kind outdoors. And since these negligent cat "owners" don't keep them indoors, they constantly leave food and water bowls outside. Which are conveniently left in the open, and are easy to photograph.

So, I will be taking lots of photos and possibly will set up video surveillance (web cam, probably) on my balcony to catch offending cats urinating on my balcony.

There are negligent dog owners, and cat owners, but the negligent cats are permitted to run all over the place and urinate and defecate on MY balcony. At least the dogs are kept on a leash and shut the hell up at night.

So, my past policy of live and let live isn't going to fly anymore.

I can stands all that I can stands, and I can't stands no more!

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

Is anyone familiar with Los Angeles County laws or ordinances pertaining to this? Because I am located within Los Angeles County.

-Ed

 

[viator122]

Have you tried a product like BobEx? Fake bobcat urine. I know it works well for deer, but supposedly smells awful. But you should do some research and find out if there's anything better than vinegar to keep cats away from your porch.

 

[fewtch]

Thanks in advance for keeping the battle between you and the owners, not you and the cats. They're only doing what comes naturally, of course.

 

[Wmcmanus]

In the spirit of Chritmas, why don't you catch the offending cats and spray paint them red and green?

No, I'm just kidding (I think).

 

[DoomV1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood So, I will be taking lots of photos and possibly will set up video surveillance (web cam, probably) on my balcony to catch offending cats urinating on my balcony. -Ed

There are websites that will pay big bucks for these videos..

 

[discord]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood So, I will be taking lots of photos and possibly will set up video surveillance (web cam, probably) on my balcony to catch offending cats urinating on my balcony.

Whatever happened to privacy?

 

[granodemostasa]

My parents live in LA county and we have a similar problem in our neighborhood. For the most parts laws limit what you can do, but the video thing sounds legal. my neighbors put up a high wooden fence, which is better for keeping cats out than the brick fences that the rest of the neighbors and my parents use. I'll be keeping an eye on this one BC we still havn't solved the problem.

 

[Oddball]

For a minute, I thought that a cat had gotten to one of your rodents.

 

[DoomV1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Any suggestions constructive and funny are welcome. -Ed

Sell a few of those videos and open a cat home?

 

[jjcapurro]

When I was growing up and we had strays in our neighborhood, the local pound would loan us traps free of charge. Once the cat is in the cage, you simply call the pound to 'Come 'N Get It'. Problem solved. The owners will probably whine, but after 2-3 times of having to bail the cat out they'll rethink where the cats live... Or they won't and you will have no more trouble.

...Or there is always the trusty arsenic in the kitty bowl trick...

 

[perplex]

Try rat poison, it's easy to get hold of.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Well, fewtch is actually right, my beef is with the Cat's "Owners". And when I put owners in quotation marks, I mean that they are as much a real pet owner as someone that feeds pigeons on the street. ... So, yeah, I'm just finding a way to punish the cat's negligent "owners".

Punishing the owners might be fun

, but you probably need to change their attitude somehow. A lot of cat owners have the attitude that cats are meant to freely roam around and that placing any restrictions on the animal is tantamount to abuse.

I think it's an unfortunate attitude in urban areas (I drive through a residential area every night and every few weeks I see a cat by the side of the road, having been hit by a car at night, when visibility is poor), but a lot of cat owners are really defensive of this attitude. They'll look at your attempts at getting them to control the animal as attempts at abusively restricting the freedom of their precious.

 

[plainsong]

Get the humane society involved. They're none too fond of "owners" of feral cats, and feral is either what they already are, or what they are becoming due to neglect.

They're over-populated with cats as it is probably, so they won't rush to take them away, but they could help educate the "owners" about what the base minimum of animal care is.

 

[LFF]

Hey Ed,
In property we studied how if you shoot an animal on your property and you capture it, its yours.