They buried their cat in our garden!!!

[OpiesOldLady]

We rent our house and we live at one end of a five house terraced row that has a communal garden stretching from one end to the other behind the houses. The gardens havent been seperated just to make it easier to mow. At the back of the garden and going round either side is a fence with shrubbery and bushes/trees in front of it. We haven't lived here long and havent really used our part of the garden much. NDN knocked and introduced herself when we moved in and asked would we mind if her grandchildren played on our bit of garden as well when they come to visit. Of course I don't mind.

Sadly, our ndn's cat was recently run over and killed out on the road. I've just been to peg out our washing and have noticed that they've buried the cat in our garden. Not just a little bit in, but proper under the tree halfway down the edge of our garden. Complete with headstone and flowers.

I can't understand why they would do this. They have trees/bushes in their own garden they could have buried it under, and they didn't even ask!

*WIBU to dig up the deceased moggy and deposit it on her doorstep and tell her to rebury it in her garden?

*Obviously I won't but still..

What's the point of posting if you were going to allow them ANYWAY by what you are saying so it's just they they didn't ask that bothers you

Do inform the LL.

I'd leave it but tell my LL . I'd ask them to remove the bits and bobs though.The reality is that a fox will probably dig it up

I used to be a landlord and I absolutely would be mighty pissed off if my tenant (or random neighbour) buried an animal in my garden (without permission which I wouldn't grant).

To be fair, if you rent your house, it's not really your garden, is it?

Oh OP- we had a similar thing, but it was the cat’s ashes Unbeknown to us, the previous home owner scaled our garden wall (apparently had knocked to see if we were in first, so considerate!) and held a ‘service’ for their cat in the garden it had lived as a kitten and the longest time in...wtf...then scattered ashes across OUR garden!!! All witnessed by a neighbour, who thought it was a burglar scaling the wall at first, it took her months to pluck up courage to tell us, by which time there was no evidence to get worked up about. I’d be pretty freaked out by the memorial you’ve got to see every day! It’s quite weird inconsiderate of your neighbour.

Just EW I hope they dug it deep enough...

Right, legally if your own the property the boundaries will define what you own regardless of whether there are fences are not. Someone using this space without prior permission really needs to have some legal contact so they do not start taking more liberties. If you contact your LL I’m sure they will not be impressed to know their NDN is using their land as a pet cemetery. It is up to them to contact the NDN and ask them to either explain or remove their pet. Unfortunately regardless of whether it’s a pet or a wooden bench - their property should not be on someone else’s, and it’s there with ‘long term’ intent.

I'm gobsmacked at how many people are responding that this is somehow ok . Granted the OP is not being clear about the status of the garden - if it is truly a communal garden, then yes, she (and her LL) are going to have to suck it up. However, if it's simply that the gardens aren't fenced, but are legally owned by the individual properties then it's a hard no. Would the posters who are saying its OK think differently if the garden was fenced off in the normal way and the neighbour just came round and buried their cat? If this is the situation then it's bonkers and they need at the very least to remove the graveside decorations and headstone.

But WeeBitSleepy what would you have done has you known about? He cannot unscatter the ashes.

He was BU, but what could you do about it? Weren’t you happier not knowing?

Rude Fleur, it's their home

chardonnay absolutely, hence why the neighbour didn’t tell me straight away. I’m glad we weren’t in when he knocked the door-presumably to ask if it was ok- what would I have said caught in the moment? Like OP, if neighbour had asked first?!

Aww! leave poor old puss in peace please!

Does it really matter in the great scheme of things?.

They probally see that bit of land in a differnt way to what you do there might be a good reason they may have been very upset at the demise of the cat and werent thinking as clearly as they might?.

Sorry. Cat owner here and owner of a road-traffic victim too.....think you're being very petty. It's really upsetting bringing a dead animal back from the vets and digging a hole. For weeks and weeks you grieve their face not chipping up a thing the door each day, it's really upsetting. Leave them alone and don't touch the wounded dead buried cat....not unless you want them to totally hate your forever, cos i definitely would! 😡 In a couple of weeks the flowers will go and I hardly think it's impinging on your daily life is it?????

It’s a very odd thing to do, so that your out on the spot and don’t know how to react initially.

Burying your pet and erecting a headstone in front of someone else's house (even if it is a communal garden) is odd. Most people I know who live in units or town houses with communal gardens would bury their pet in front or back of their own house or unit/flat. Similarly they might put pot plants, outdoor setting, garden ornaments etc in front or behind their own house/unit/flat. Not in front of someone else's house etc. That would be weird. However, having a game of cricket or or other ball game, riding a bike, running around might require more garden space or grassed area and therefore be in front of a number of units/flats/houses and this would be alright with most people.

Op, your ndn is odd. Yanbu.

Why are posters insisting that the OP should leave the cat where it is, she hasn't seriously said anywhere that she was going to dig it up

Even if it is a truly shared garden, this is still not ok without the agreement of all residents / owners.

As pps have said, you must inform your ll especially if the plot is specifically owned by the ll. Failure to do so could mean potentially being made liable for cost of reinterment of dead kitty even though you didn’t create the grave. Rather like you have to inform the owner that a shower is leaking and not wait until the ceiling collapses.

Am familiar with your garden set up. We have friends with similar in London. I think this is super weird and would be asking them why? I would ask them to move moggy back to their garden or moving the headstone, flowers at the very least. Very odd!

I would mention that you've noticed it and that as you are renting, you will have to return the property back to it's original form when you go and that includes removing the headstone.
I'd be interested to know why they've buried the cat there, but I suspect they have a good (to them) reason, and it wouldn't bother me that much.
As you are renting, are you free to plant things/change the garden? If so, you could explain that you had hoped to change that part of the garden, but now you feel you can't.

Ok @Chalfontstgiles then bury your kitty in your garden if you have one. If you don’t, then bury it in the neighbours back garden, create a shrine, visit it, then come back and tell us how that went. I’m sure you also wouldn’t mind burying the local kids favourite pet snake, dog and tortoise in your garden and let them play and visit daily.

They shouldn’t have done this without a conversation first. I wouldn’t mind the burial especially if it was the cat’s special spot, but I wouldn’t want an obvious memorial. We have a nice shaped rock and a plant marking our pet’s grave, but no one else can tell what it is. I think it’s totally out of order and irrelevant whether the OP owns or rents.

Mummyoflittledragon

Not your house = not your problem.

But I would let the LL know so he can decide what to do about it.

Honestly I would dig it up and deposit it all including the headstone on their doorstep. It’s unacceptable. Just because the gardens don’t have fences doesn’t mean she can do what she likes.

I'd make an ugly water feature out of it, or desecrate it somehow. Typical of some selfish pet owners they think you have an interest in their pets, like it's a part of the family, what a cunt.