My neighbour has asked me to pick up my cat's poo from their garden. Literally she wants to be able to call on me to come and pick it up on an as and when basis.

[pingu2209]

I have 2 cats. They have only just started going outside, about 1 month so far. I still have a litter tray at home and they do use it but they are also beginning to 'go' outside too.

My view is that cats should not be locked in doors. I had to keep them indoors for the first 6th months because I was told by the shelter that they needed their injections, be neutered and micro chipped before they could venture outside and all that wasn't done till they were 6 months old.

I keep my cats up to date with their injections and worm/flee ointment - well they are only 7 months old at the moment, but I fully intend to keep them up to date.

There are other cats in the area. The house behind mine has 2 big cats and we are in a rural area with foxes. Also, my neighbours have a dog. Nice dog, sometimes it barks but it isn't really a problem if I'm honest. I like dogs as much as cats, I'm not anti dogs or anything.

Am I legally obliged to pick up my cats poo?

I've spoken to my mother and she has told me that I should pick up my cat's poo if the neighbour asks. The thing is, I may have to go round there each day or two to do it.

I'm a horse owner. If a resident were to request I picked up my horses shit, I would return after my hack, with a bucket and shovel. ( a poo bag just wouldnt cut it!) as a rule, in my rural area, it's quote sought after for composting though. It doesn't tend to sit for long. (fwiw, horses are vegetarians, and their poo is a lot less harmful to health than carnivore poo.) wouldn't stop me cleaning it up when asked though.

Fairymum of course you own a cat.

There are threads on mumsnet right now going along the lines of "my cat is missing" and I remember a "they stole my cat" thread.

If you don't 'own' them then they are not "your cat" or "my cat" and they can't go missing or be stolen.

If you have an animal, which most likely you have paid for and certainly spent money on in some way and which you house and feed and take to the vets and make a fuss of and worry about when it doesn't come home then you bloody well own it and you ought to take full responsibilty for it and it's mess and it's noise and it's shitting or biting or barking or whatever the hell it is doing to piss off your neighbours.

And if that doesn't extend to going into the neighbours garden to pick up after it then it should extend to buying that neighbour something to keep it out and replacing whatever it has damaged.

fairymum makes a good point.

Although cats normally and prefer to cover their poo,if they take a dislike to someone they will do it where they fancy

The neighbor should take note...

Cats are amazingly savvy!

takethisonehereforastart Nothing to do with cat poo twister, although that's what it can feel like when one of the furry bastards has been shitting there. Still it made you laugh and made you feel better for having your double standards pointed out to you so never mind.

Well that's a shame, there is me trying to bring some humor to the thread and there are you, unable to have a debate without taking it personally and keep a sense of humor at the same time. Pitty.

takethisonehereforastart There are threads on mumsnet right now going along the lines of "my cat is missing" and I remember a "they stole my cat" thread. If you don't 'own' them then they are not "your cat" or "my cat" and they can't go missing or be stolen.

I refer to "my children" and would say "my child hurt themselves" etc, but I don't own them.

I would say "my friend" as well. But I don't own them.

Fairymum - your argument is fallacious. No-one is saying that cats are responsible or can be controlled. Cat owners though do have a responsibility. Just because you don't walk you pet on a lead does not mean that you can abdicate responsibity when your pet causes damage or harm.

Pretty here we go. "You just haven't got a sense of humour...blah blah blah."

When I posted about cats not burying their shit all that well you make a deliberate attempt to sneer and then pass it off as a joke.

Yet you complain about being called deranged and then immediately make a comment about finally having another sane person on here, but that's okay. Because when you do it it's funny but when it's done to you it's personal.

No you don't own your children. But if one of them did a shit in your neighbours garden I'd hope you would apologise and clean it up.

Wow the OP has come in for a lot of stick. Before I get jumped on, I too hate cat poo, in a previous home the neighbours cat used to shit in our garden all the time, but then so did other cats (and I didn;t know their owners). It would have been totally unacceptable of me to expect the neighbour to come in and clean up the cat poo in my garden.

From what I can tell:

she and the neighbour dont get along so well
there are other cats in the area so there is no way to tell which cat has done which poo
the OP has a litter tray for her cats which they still regularly use

I think the OPs suggestion of if she asks and gets the other neighbours to agree to do cat poo duty then she will too is a good one.

Alternatively she could buy the neighbout a water gun and sugest that everytime she sees a cat poo she can shoot water at it, you could even let her use it on other cats

at takethisonehereforastart and children shitting in neighbour's garden.

meerkat I'm glad you find anti social behaviour amusing I have 10 year olds urinating in front of my 2 dc, and me getting attacked for telling him to stop, but as Long as you find it funny. Maybe you are my neighbours. And I'm am a veggie, vegan for 6 years. But care about human rights too!

And I do own my 3 beautiful cats, and take responsibly for them fairy mum
And totally with clarinsgirl

takethisone I don't think anyone was laughing at you with regard to 'cat poo twister'. It was the turn of phrase and the image it conjured up!
I'm sufficiently juvenile to find any sentence including the words 'poo' or 'pants' worth a chuckle.

Anyhoo, having stopped giggling and thought about this properly, I feel that if any of my lovely neighbours were certain that my cat was leaving deposits in their garden, I'd clean it up and cooperate. However, I'd still think it an unusual request.

And I still think the OPs situation is not about cat poo at all, and entirely about her snobby, bored neighbour stirring and trying to get one over on her.

The law is strange. In terms of trespass and damage resulting from trespass, a cat is unique in that it is recognised at cat does not have owners but has caretakers (the legal phrase).

However, the law then says that if someone steals your cat you can sue them for theft.

A cat also falls under the animal protection act of 1911 where you can't deliberately set out traps or poison etc to hurt any animal, which includes cats.

So there are mixed messages in the law.

I saw my neighbour today and she totally blanked me even when I said hello. Because I said hello my children followed me lead and said hello too, even my 3 year old dd. She blanked them too.

We were never friends, but we were at least civil. It is totally her doing for the situation we are in now. The very fact she asked something very unusual and out of the norm makes me wonder if actually she knew the the answer would be no and wanted to have a reason to snub me.

Mind you, I didn't actually say no, I said that if she asked the other neighbours with cats and they said yes, then I would do it too. Technically that is not a no.

manicmummyonadietcokebreak I thought it was a toddler, but you can assume the worst of me if you wish.

takethisonehereforastart You're sounding very vitriolic.

But a road is a public right of way. You get more people walking down my road then you do in my garden. So the shit comes into contact with more people. hmm

my child doesnt play in the road though. and, as saggy says, horse poo is not harmful. your argument doesnt stand up. tell me why you think its ok for your cat to shit in my garden and why you are absolved of responsibility in this one aspect. it seems to me that you are picking and choosing sections of arguments and leaving the glaring issues.

pingu2209 She's blanking you for suggesting that other cat owners don't joing in the poo clear up?! You are right, she was looking for an excuse. She isn't able to get you to do what she wants, which she thought she would be able to seeing as you are below her and left school at 16.

Pretty But even so, you know I'm still right.

TheMoistWorldOfSeptimusQuench Glad someone shares my strange sense of humor.

Game of Cat Poo Twister anyone?

Pingu just solve the whole thing with one of those sonic gizmo's and tell her that's the end of it.

You will be the bigger person and the better neighbour, she can't use this as a reason to sneer at you anymore and if she's really that bad then that will piss her off far more than the cat poo ever did.

lissielou my child doesnt play in the road though

Oh good for YOU! Down my road where we don't get much traffic ALL the children play in the road. So in fact it is YOUR argument that doesn't hold up. It still stinks, kids still walk it into their house/get it over their shoes.

I am not going to go over the reasons again as to why the OP shouldn't clean up the poo in her neighbours garden because it has been said over and over.

Left foot on brown...

Of course you should!

Similarly, if her dog escapes and poos in your garden regularly, you wouldn't expect to have to deal with it, surely.

Oh good for YOU! Down my road where we don't get much traffic ALL the children play in the road. So in fact it is YOUR argument that doesn't hold up. It still stinks, kids still walk it into their house/get it over their shoes.

eh? how does my argument not hold up? its not so much the walking it into the house that is the issue with cat shit. its a) the diseases that cat shit carries (horse poo is very clean comparatively) and the fact that it is in MY garden. if a horse shits in my garden I will ask the owner to clear it up. and they probably will do it. not say "why should i? its in a horses nature to shit, they are led by instinct"

you still havent answered why you should be exempt from cleaning up after your pet. but then i dont expect you to, you are an expert at evasion.

Good for that neighbour! Of course it is your responsibility - you choose to have cats - deal wth the consequences or keep them indoors.

lissielou you are an expert at evasion I'll take that as a compliment

Dogs shit on the road, that has to be cleared up!