This morning, I take put his leash on him, open the door and begin to take him out. Suddenly he lunges and grabs something and I hear the snarl and he shakes whatever he has. As I pull him back, he throws it down and I see that he'd caught one of the lastest batch of feral kittens that one of my neighbor's feral cats littered next to my house. It had been right outside the door and Murphy was on it before I ever saw it. In less than a second, he'd broken the kitten's back but not finished it off and now I had to deal with it before I could leave for work.
Thanks, asshole dog.
I put Murphy back in the house and went upstairs to get a .22. I'd noticed when Murphy hit the kitten that it's mother had been standing just a few feet away just watching. At no time did she ever step forward to challenge Murphy's attack on her baby, and when I came back outside a moment later, she was nowhere to be seen, apparently having abandoned her baby without looking back. Cold. Not many other species would be that callous, I'm thinking. The kitten was crying loudly for it's mother but she never returned for it. I did what I had to do and then went and got a shovel to bury it, once again cursing my idiot neighbors for not controlling their damned cats.
As for Murphy, he just wanted to get on with his walkies. Circle of life goes on around.
And I made it in the door at work with 14 seconds to spare, earning one of "those" looks from da boss.
So how is any of the my fault, exactly? Did you want that cat or something?
Arrgh... Irresponsible neighbor's and their cats are a pet peeve of mine (pun intended). No litters on our property yet.
ReplyDeleteGunny did bring in a half grown dead squirrel the other night, though. Most likely already dead at the hands (claws) of aforementioned cats and abandoned in our yard. Had to wail on him with my hat to make him let go of it - its one of the few obedience things he's yet to master. That dead squirrel was just too desireable to give up without a fight :)
Check and see if you have a Trap Neuter Release program in your area, tell them you'd be delighted to allow them to set up live traps on the property edge between you and your neighbor. Your total responsibility: to call them when there's a cat in a trap. They'd likely be delighted to help you reduce the local population boom.
ReplyDeletePutting the kitten out of its misery was the right thing to do. But have you considered putting the dead animals on your neighbors property so that they can deal with the burial?
ReplyDeleteAndy,
ReplyDeleteI've done so in the past with ones that the dogs have killed clean, but if they found a cat with a bullet hole, things would go pear-shaped around here.
At lest the cats haven't bitten Murphy.
ReplyDeleteWe've had our own adventures here with cats this year. Hopefully, they are gone now.
Murphy is acting on instinct, if someone put a fresh BLT sandwich on my porch much the same thing would occur.
ReplyDeleteIt was good of you to put it out of its misery. If you can't afford to feed and protect your offspring, be they four legged or two legged - DO NOT HAVE THEM IF YOU CAN HELP IT AND IF IT JUST HAPPENS, DO NOT RAISE THEM. Speaking from personal experience, adoption is a wonderful thing.
@ Brigid: I'm not mad at Murphy for killing the cat; it's what he does and it's what the cats do to everything else around here. I was just miffed at getting stuck with the clean-up, especially when I was already pressed for time. And it's not like this never happens here. These damned "cat-loving" neighbors of mine and their feral cat empire make this a fairly frequent occurrence.
ReplyDeleteIf you neighbor was a true cat lover he would have them spayed or neutered.I am a cat lover. Taking to the vet is my first order of business.any responsible pet owner does the same.
ReplyDeleteAbout the nicest thing I can say about the cats that your neighbor id "raising" is.....VERMIN!
ReplyDeleteThat's a pathetic bunch next door, just sayin...
ReplyDeleteThere is a trap neuter release program here BUT you have to pay up about $86 per cat/kitten if it is a female and about $60 for a male. That includes rabies shot.
ReplyDeleteCall the local Spay Today if you want to make a dent in the population - every feral mother you spend the $86 bucks on will stop producing.
While you can't change your neighbor's you can make a difference on the neighborhood's feral population if you really want to.
They are usually pretty dumb and a have-a-heart trap with a can of cheap cat food will generally get you one anytime you put it out.
Perfect caption for this picture.
ReplyDelete