Is DM or neighbour bu re dead cats?

[Oysterbabe]

DM's neighbour has a swimming pool, which is actually a huge hole in the ground containing 2ft of stinking stagnant water. Over the last few years 5 cats have drowned in the pool, 3 of which were owned by DM and 2 by other neighbours. Also a fox, countless rodents and hedgehogs have met their end in the death pool.

After the first of DM's cats drowned the neighbour seemed genuinely upset and agreed to cover the pool. It didn't happen and a while later DM lost another cat. There was another discussion about covering it or at least putting something in it that trapped animals could climb on to, again it didn't happen and recently cat number 3 drowned too.

DM was devastated by the loss of each cat. I suspect emotions were running high and she was not particularly polite when discussing the latest one with neighbour. Neighbour is angry that DM went onto her property to look for the cat when she was out and has now said she is not going to do anything about covering the pool and DM should keep her pets off her land.

DM is very upset and anxious about her cats. She keeps them in all night and worries herself sick whenever they put a paw outside in the day. They can't really be indoor cats, DM has a small holding and they are outdoorsy country cats.

Given that you can't control where a cat goes, shouldn't the neighbour agree to at least chuck a bit of wood into their pool?

Absolutely Heman - surely after incident one, any sane, rational & compassionate person would bung a plank of wood in the pool?!! Not a huge deal, is it?

I mean, I think most people would drain the fucker before it started a cholera epidemic or similar.

Your neighbour is a phsychotic cat killer with no conscience!!!

If she was genuine she'd have drained the pool immediately after the first 'accident'. She's failing to make sure it's safe for pets and wildlife, knowing they are falling in and are unable to get out.

I am also sceptical on these cats going in a pool, my suspicion is she's maybe killing them with antifreeze or something then chucking them in the pool.

No more cats until the old bat takes steps to make the pool safe. I'd be tempted to order a few tonnes of hardcore to be dumped in her pool while she's out

Is there a local wildlife trust where your Mum lives? They might be able to offer advice, especially as it's affecting all sorts of creatures including hedgehogs.

The actual number of 'casualties' could be much higher. These are only the ones OP knows about!

What could the RSPCA do?

I think they could enforce that it's covered within a set amount of time.

Very upsetting. I hope something is done to resolve this OP.

My suspicion is that she has rat poison down and the various animals have eaten it and died. She's then panicked and chucked them in the pool.

Good grief such leaps of imagination here. Really, people, get a grip you sound delusional.

My cat fell in the almost empty fish pond (which is about 8ft deep) when it was being finished off, and he couldn't get out so not hard to believe they've drowned in the pool. Luckily for my cat there was only about a foot of water and his whining echoed enough that we heard him, DP had to get a ladder and climb down to get him out!

I don't understand a pool that doesn't have a tapered floor (variable-depth). So while it might be 2' deep at deep end, there should be a dry shallow end (or mucky with leaves but still not standing water end).

OP is describe a uniformly 8' deep pit with no shallow end. Who ever built a garden swimming pool like that?

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

My neighbours have a swimming pool that's uniformly about 6' deep. Pools for gardens are often built to an individual spec, eg for adults doing (short) lengths so don't have a shallow end.

I think neighbours are fairly bonkers for accepting this house (it's school staff accommodation - our villa is very similar but poolless) when they have toddlers, but that's another thread...

Cats don't fall in though. & lots of the local strays drink from it & hang around our back gardens a lot as we are soft hearted expats who feed them.

I'll agree that if a particularly stupid moggy fell in neighbours' pool it would be in big trouble if pool partially drained at the time - I just don't think many cats are that dozy.

Really think something dodgy going on here.

Most domestic pools don't have a noticeable shallow end (certainly not 2ft) as they have to maximise swimming room, so they would have to be ridiculously large to justify the sort of shallow end you'd find in a leisure centre. Older outdoor pools, particularly, are usually one depth all the way round. Even if the pool had a shallow end of say 4ft, with 2ft of water in it most animals wouldn't get out of it.

I wonder what the legal position would be if say a meter reader fell in it and injured themselves or worse, I imagine the owners would be liable in the same way as if they put land mines in the lawn. Yes it's their property but I'm not sure if you're legally obliged to reasonably prevent injury, interesting point ......

peanutandphoenix. I am sure this was just an error but when you mentioned "fowl play" I couldn't take the message seriously. No mention of chickens methinks!!

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

People are saying that there is a strong possibility that 5 cats dying is not coincidental and should be looked at. (I nearly put in more depth). In my opinion it would be naive not to look at this more seriously.

Any thoughts on the next step OP?

I suggested to DM that she try and have a calm and civil chat with neighbour during which she could offer to buy a cover, install a platform, do anything she could to resolve the issue whilst not causing the neighbour any inconvenience. I'm not confident in DM's ability to actually do this as she can't even talk to me about it without getting very shouty and angry let alone neighbour who she now despises. It sounds like neighbour is unlikely to be up for a reasonable discussion either. It would probably end up making things more hostile. I would have been happy to have this discussion for her but I live 200 miles away.

DM is going to try environmental health again and mention some of the things suggested here, stressing how it's a health hazard, the rotting animals etc.

I saw that you can do a Web chat with CAB so I said I'd do that for her when they reopen on 3rd to see if they have any ideas and whether there is any legal action that can be taken as a last resort.