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 fecking cannot stand cats. The neighbours opposite have 3 and they all poo in my garden and I have to clear it up. I had been away 3 days come back and open the patio door to get fresh air in and the garden reeks of their poo I was so mad. I walk out of my house in the mornings and cat has poo in the flower bed by the front door - fuck sake really gets on my nerves.

I have now paid out for £100 worth of sharp large gravel stones to cover all my flower beds so they no longer poo any more. Yet again the non cat owner has to fork out their own money to try and enjoy a poo free garden.

Once a cat had poo'd and then dribbled poo all over the patio as it left - I had to spend my time washing the patio down.

These cats do not bury their poo!

If she knows it's your cats, and the chances are at least some of it will be, then yes you should pick it up. It's your cat, therefore you are responsible for it's shit.

ZOMBIE THREAD. How dull.

The fact that people keep commenting on this three year old zombie thread just goes to show how few people read anything of the thread before posting.

I can only speak from my own experience. We have a patch of lawn to the left of our front door and also a flower bed to the right.

Several of our close neighbours have cats and one of them uses both areas as its toilet – it is absolutely disgusting having to pick this up before we attempt to mow the grass, garden or wheel out our bins. It’s made worse by this animal often seems to have stomach problems and the soiling is very soft and now easy to remove!

Cat and Dog poo have one of the most unpleasant smells known to man, carry parasites and attracts flies. Unfortunately it is a myth that cats always bury their waste; they do not and actually do it partly to mark their roaming territory. Cats also rarely 'go' on their home turf so your garden is probably fine whilst your neighbour suffers.

I’m pretty sure I know which neighbour our problem cat belongs to and I wish I had the courage of your neighbour to go and speak to them about it.

Don’t underestimate how annoying and unpleasant this is for your neighbour. She has done nothing wrong - if your animals are responsible I think you should do as she askes.

ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE ZOMBIE

We have cats appearing in our garden all the time. It's made worse by the elderly neighbour who spends a fortune on feeding them. Well, over fed cats result in massive extra nasty poos. In usual cat fashion they deposit them in our garden and driveway. No point asking her to help. If it's not cats it's pigeons! By the way, the neighbour doesn't own a cat. The recipients of her largesse belong to other people. My husband makes anti cat noises and leaps about so your responses is music to his ears now I have told him about these postings.

your neighbour is bloody rude. i have no cats. i regularly have poo in my garden but i don't go round to my neighbours to get them to pick up poo. wouldn't dream of it!

Catshit catapults were mentioned by Aeneas Tacitus in his Treatise on Siegecraft. So this has been a problem since 350 BC.

Why are you asking if you are legally obliged to do this? That's a bit of a weird and overly extreme response. Of course if you have cats they should be allowed out but of course that means they will poo where no other cats live to mark territory. Go pick up! You chose to have pets so you should clean up after them. Good on your neighbour for just asking rather than silently seething....

There's no ZOMBIE thread warning on this. Why? I'm on the PC.

Your lucky she's not poisoned it.... The law is quiet lenient towards cats that's why people kill them.

When you can't trap them, they cannot be removed and nothing can be done about them the only thing that can be done is to break the law.

There is one legal way though.

If she claimed on article of the human rights act she has the right to her privacy and property.

Your cat is property so you also have the right for it not to be damaged.

That is when she pulls Article 14 of the human rights act... Discrimination over one persons property over another.

That's when she will get her way and your cat is taken away from you.

It's plastered all over the Internet if I were you, if pick your cats foul upLocal councils tend to want an easy life so as in the scenario above, one voice gets nothing done but if several complain then they move into action.

If it is just your garden being used as the local cat toilet and you are a lone voice and you have tried all other avenues including talking to the cat owners and setting up cat deterrents then you could try quoting the human rights act at your local council office. The result is something akin to showing a crucifix to a vampire.

When you go to your local authority for help they will usually tell you that cats cannot trespass so the owners aren’t liable and there is nothing they can do – blah blah blah – anything for a quite life.

At this point you tell them you wish to make a formal complaint under article 8 of the Human Rights Act. Article 8 (when they ask) covers your right to respect for private and family life from your local authority – specifically you believe they are failing you in your right to enjoy your property because your garden is being used as a giant litter box by the neighborhood cats and they are refusing to do anything about it.

This is going to cause a bit of a stir and much whispering and nodding in your general direction but at some point they will believe they have solved their problem (the problem being you claiming your human rights are being violated) by telling you that the cat owners are also covered by Article 8 because they have the right to enjoy their property and the offending cats are their property.

You then tell them you believe they are now in breach of the Human Rights Act Article 14 because you are being discriminated against. They are putting the cat owners right to Article 8 above your right to Article 8.

At the very least this will show them you are not going to be fobbed off easily and will usually bring an offer from someone senior to go and ‘have a word’ with the cat owner or owners. Its your cat!!

You wouldn't like it if somebody started Intruding your privacy.

She is not being unreasonable. I fecking hate it when cats poo in my garden and I have to pick it up.
I have a dog. I have never not picked up his poo and I would be mortified if he pooed in someone's garden!
You are being v u

ZOMBIE THREAD! ZOMBIE THREAD! ZOMBIE THREAD!

Once is bad enough, but twice, ffs!

What are people googling to keep reanimating this!?

Your cat = your poo and responsibility I I ybu

Mmmmmm........... BRAINZ

Fuck me jake I'll bet you're a reet laugh at parties

YABVVU

We are selling our house because we live next door to a lazy cow who has 6 cats and every morning our gravel drive and rear lawn are covered in cat crap.

We bought this house because of the garden. We grew herbs, salads, over 200 strawberry plants, black currants, rhubarb, leeks, carrots, asparagus and potatoes. We just have flowers now as there is no way we could eat from our garden. We watch them spraying everything .

We have a cat of our own but we trained it to use a litter tray in the garage before we let her out for the first time, cats are easy to train.

you sir are a Z~O~M~B~I~E T~H~R~E~A~D bumping asshat

edam i totally agree with you I've had 3 cats in past 17 years and not once have I been asked to pick up their poo and if I was asked I'd laugh as there are so many other cats in our street that how would they know it was mine?!

My cat now as far as I know shits in his litter box (he's kept in at night) and if he does anything anywhere else I can't stop him. I can however rip a piece off you if you dare harm him.

I live in the same area as the Croyon Cat Killers and its Totally sick what they have done to cats (they think it's more than one person) and to a fox too.

If it was a neighbour with young kids (we have them next door now actually) who complained (no they haven't and the neighbours on the side also have 2 girls under 10 no complaints either) I'd consider seeing if I could put him off or tell them they could spray with a water pistol if it was really annoying them.

As for the argument about birds, well cats hunt, so do small dogs, I deliberately put a bird table (not used much now) out of reach of my cat, and water bowl hung in tree branches. The table is also cat climbale. I rescued a catted wren from my last cat and the rescue centre rang up a few months later to say it had survived and was thriving/had been set free.

Cat now catches frogs (I try to rescue them) he tries with birds but as far as I know not much luck bar wood pigeon dragged through cat flap and baby bird fallen out of nest so he isn't a brilliant hunter despite having very long legs and claws for a cat (he's half Siamese).

Good for her. I would also like to ask my neighbours to remove their cats' dead birds from our garden too.
YABVU. I am impressed with your neighbour, and aspire to be as assertive as her.
Luckily the cat-obsessed sociopaths recent neighbours moved and took their pests pets with them. This year for the first time I can enjoy my garden and see bird nesting that have fighting chance of rearing young.
If you want pets - keep them indoors.