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..

Why are people struggling to understand the garden set-up? It is the OP's own private garden; it's just not fenced off.

OP, I'd go round and just say calmly and firmly that they must find somewhere else to bury the cat.

teddybear, would you seriously dig up the cat and return it?

I get the set up, OP we have similar houses near us. I row of mid sized Victorian terraces and there fronts are on the back and their backs on the front. The front gardens are almost like a park. They are open to each other and very attractive but strictly speaking each stop belongs to each house. As there are no boundaries it is easier to mow and far more attractive to look out onto although there is little privacy.

With regard to the cat, I would speak to the neighbour and ask why? And then say you won’t move the cat but don’t want to look out onto her memorial so the tombstone needs to go.

Don't dig it up but i'm sorry the headstone and flowers have to go. What on earth is wrong with these people.

How odd. I'd have to ask her why she'd chosen that spot closer to your home than her own.

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.

Wow that escalated quickly!

"legally if your own the property the boundaries will define what you own regardless of whether there are fences are not." - entirely correct, although a right of way has clearly been established (and of course its the landlord that owns it). How anyone in their right mind can think that a right of way across a garden means a right to bury a dead pet in it beggars belief; you've got a massive CF there OP and in a day or so if the foxes want to get involved you'll have something out of a horror film on your lawn.

All those saying its ok, can I come and put my dead pets in your garden? If not why not? Its not as if it would affect you now would it eh?

go speak to your neighbour. Tell her your garden is not a pet cemetary and ask that she remove the cat and the headstones to her own garden.

If she refuses, tell her you will dig up the rotting cat and leave it in her garden to be disposed of.

Anyway, never mind all that, when are you going to speak to her OP?

This sounds like my place. I live in the middle of a row of eight old terrace cottages. Four houses in the middle,have a largish open garden at the front of houses, We don't have any borders as a such, it looks like a communal garden, but in fact, the the deeds say,that the width of the house,and right down to the bottom of the garden,means this is our own garden as such. But we all use it for various things.

Two of us have a summer house at the bottom, one other person has a shed and greenhouse. But we all get along well,and there are no issues.

A few years ago, I buried my cat at the bottom of my garden. He was buried slightly over to the left of my garden,as I was having a base laid for the summerhouse. A new neighbour moved in next door, and I told him about my cat, as he then was going to put a base down for a shed. He was ok about this,so not a problem, except my poor old cat is now under the base and shed !!

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.

This^^. Can’t believe people are saying to just leave it. Give them the chance to re-bury if first and, if not, dig it up and return it.

These people are walking all over you. I’d stop allowing their grandchildren to access the garden too.

Very strange, why on earth wouldn't they want their poor kitty in their own garden. I'm surprised the burial took place without you seeing, when my cat got run over, I buried her in my garden and the hole took bloody hours to dig as I went about six foot down. May be worth asking CF neighbour how deep they went as there is a good chance the remains will get dug up by foxes or badgers. I put paving slabs on top of my girls grave just to be sure. Most odd though.

I think we need a photo of the grave.

I wouldn’t remove the remains, but I would remove the ridiculous decorations.

I would also not allow your garden to be used by anybody else going forward.

As Incy has advised above.

I would give her the headstone etc back, and tell her you aren't happy about it being in your area of the garden. If she gets shirty, tell her that if she puts it back you will dig the cat up too and leave it on her doorstep (don't obviously - it will stink!).

And tell her that her grandchildren aren't welcome i your garden area any more.

She didn't even have the courtesy to ASK if you'd mind. Very cheeky.

I honestly dont understand why everyone is belligerent about a dead cat under a tree and a presumably plaque in a communal garden. If it was your own private garden and they secretly climbed over a fence in the middle of the night I might not be impressed but it seems a non issue on the whole.

Leave the cat but remove all the tack. But wait a few weeks. Then forget it - no need to say anything to anyone.

I can't believe anyone would be so nasty s to dig the cat up. You should be ashamed of yourselves if you've said you'd do that (NB: Not the OP who has clearly stated that she wouldn't).

Should the neighbour have done it without checking? No.
Should they remove the headstone? Yes.

I guess it does depend on the actual legalities of the garden ownership but it would have beenbasic manners to ask first!

Personally, I wouldn't dig up the cat, or ask them to. I would talk to them and put a time limit on the memorial - a month or so perhaps?

I would tell them move the cat, no doubt about it, kitty and the headstone would be gone off my property by the end of the weekend, either they do it or I do. People who are batshit enough to bury their cat with a headstone in someone else's garden are batshit enough to visit it and lay flowers in the future and like fuck would I be having that when they have a perfectly good garden themselves.

Maybe start dressing as a white cat at night, crash around in the garden and leave notes asking to be buried properly?

Make sure its buried properly otherwise a fox will leave you a suprise.

Cat owner here and owner of a road-traffic victim too.....think you're being very petty

Did you bury your pet in a) your garden, or b) your neighbour’s garden, despite having a perfectly good garden yourself?

It’s that that makes this weird. We’ve buried pets too, and of course they went in our own garden. Super-weird to bury it in somebody else’s. OP is not seriously suggesting she would dig it up, but it’s a fucking strange and intrusive thing to do on the neighbour’s part.

10 small grave markers with the names of your (imaginary) deceased hamsters planted in a row on her part of the garden.

notacooldad IT IS A PRIVATE GARDEN

Yes, I'm shouting.

It's not your garden, it's your landlords. If it was me, I'd ask her first why she did it and ask her if she has permission from the owners of your rental house. If not, tell the landlords.