To remove these cat spikes on a fence?

[Alexandra80]

Woken up this morning by my DC screaming saying our young cat is bleeding everywhere. Both his paws are very bloody and we've washed him and dried him (he's suuuuper fluffy so it's hard to see the damage and his fur was matted with blood).

He obviously tried to jump onto our porch roof from a non spiked fence which he does a lot as he likes it up there, miscalculated and landed heavily on the spiked fence which is right by our porch door. The spikes are plastic but very pointed. Originally there was a path that led down that side of our house but the lady who lived in our house before put a fence up and the lady with the garden next to us moved her garden (I. E. Grass, gravel...) to reach the fence.

So technically it's no one's legal property and it was an agreement between that neighbour and the previous tenant. She's only put those cat spikes on this one fence as the other two are official shared boundaries. I get some people hate cats, fine, but buy anoyher kind of detterant. Now I've got to take my cat to the vets and he's in a lot of pain. (I'd talk to my neighbour first but she's proven to be awkard before which is long winded and boring but jist for context as to why I can't just ask her). Would we be unreasonable to remove the spikes later, as it'll likely happen again and it's not legally anyone's? Thinking of calling rspca for advice once we're back from the vets. I always thought the spikes weren't meant to hurt/impale cats, just deter them.

I'm pretty sure it is legal. And if your cat was caught on them, it was probably trying to get on her side.
It's legal where I am and so is barbed wire. I have the barbed wire. I loathe cats and wouldnt want them roaming on my property.
Fortunately where I am, the right for it to not be a nuisance overrides it being a 'roaming' animal.

@adaline

The problem with cats comes because they're have the right to roam and in reality owners have no control over them once they're outside of the house.

Unfortunately, roaming cats can be a nuisance - they shit in people's gardens, get in their houses, terrorise their own cats, spray and can cause accidents when they run out into the road too.

Mine are outdoor cats and always have been, (in 20 years of having cats,) and they have certainly never behaved like you describe.

Also, 10 of the 30 homes in our cul-de-sac have cats, and no-one else's cat behaves like this either.

They may have plopped the odd turd out on someone else's garden, but I doubt it's very often because our 3 lawns (front and back) have cat shit on them, and so do our lawn borders (and so do our planters.)

And I have caught our younger one (age 10) shitting in our planters and on the lawn(s) many times, and the older one does it in our lawn borders, so they probably don't do it in anyone else garden.

Cats will only generally behave like you describe, if they are not cared for/looked after properly, and have owners who are out 12 hours a day, and leave them alone. (So they are wandering about looking for a family that cares and will let them in to their home.) And yep, dominating the existing cats is a symptom of this issue.

The OP, and most other cats owners are caring pet owners who have well-behaved cats. No way in HELL is putting spikes on a fence like the OP's neighbour did, acceptable. Don't care whether it's illegal or legal It's fucking nasty. Hope the woman is charged with animal cruelty.

@MistyCloud

I'm only going on my own experience. I've lived here a couple of years now and we often have cats in our garden, and one who loves to climb in through the bathroom window and eat our cats biscuits! It doesn't bother me as I'm an animal person and my cats are fairly tolerant but I can see it annoying someone who had allergies or who had a dog who liked to chase cats.

Numerous cats are killed on the roads regularly and I probably have to slam on my brakes on a weekly basis to stop a cat getting hit - the roads here are narrow and the cats just dart out of nowhere. It probably doesn't help that the road behind our house is NSL either.

Unfortunately when your cat is out roaming all day, you have no idea what it's upto. Saying "well, my cat doesn't do that" means nothing because you don't know for sure - how could you?

There's quite a lot of information available through a quick google search that says these spikes are ONLY legal in the UK UNTIL they harm a cat. These have, and thus they have become illegal in the eyes of the law.

Look on the land registry website £3 for the title and the same for the plan. She's entitled to have those on the fence if it's hers if it's not and it's yours then remove them.

@Adaline. Responsible cat owners don't let there cats out to roam if they live near busy roads, if the cats are roaming further afield than a quiet cul de sac, or neighbourhood, its because the cat has not been neutered - again irresponsible. So you are braking for the cats of irresponsible owners.
My own cat goes out for an hour or two each day and mostly sits in my garden. They are a misunderstood pet and a lot of people get them in the belief that they are low maintenance and can be chucked outdoors 23 hours a day , again irresponsible, but its not the cats fault they are just acting on instinct. If you don't like them in your pristine gardens find an alternative way to deter them, anyone causing physical harm to an innocent creature is just sick.

@adaline Fair enough.

I know cats can be a PITA if they are roaming/digging up your bulbs and plants, and hounding you and your own cats, but IME most cats aren't like this, it's only the ones who are somewhat neglected, (like, have their owner out from 7am til 7pm.)

As I said, the cats around here from the 10 properties who have them, (about 15 cats in total,) are all pretty good/well behaved. I have lived in a house before though (where someone had a cat,) and the owner was away 2-3 days at a time, just leaving him a bowl of dry food and some water on the doorstep. Not even allowed in the house when they weren't there!! So he was surviving/existing, , but he needed love, and company...

So he started to try and get affection and love and company from other people. But sadly, he did become a bit of a nuisance, because he started to dominate the existing cat(s) that the family had... Quite sad.

It's quite sad, coz when a cat IS a pest, it's often not the cat's fault. It's the owner.

@Brazi103 as other pp have said (and linked to law) it's not legal in UK if it harms cats. It's a deterrent not supposed to hurt animals - which is why is bloody stupid having it at all, no matter how annoying cats are.

@gonetoget all the cats around here are neutered but they still roam! Just because yours doesn't venture further than your back yard doesn't mean others do the same.

And I've never advocated causing them physical harm - I have cats! I'd never advocate hurting them but you also have no idea what your cat is upto if you let it out to roam all day.

Fair enough if yours is only out in your garden for a couple of hours but our town is full of random cats wandering about. They don't bother me as I'm an animal lover but I wouldn't let mine (both neutered ) out because I would worry about them getting hurt or lost or run over.

@MistyCloud Agree 100%

I have been adopted by just such a cat. The owners were out all the time, he was so skinny and full of fleas and intact. He just wanted a bit of attention.

People should only have animals if they are prepared to give them love, time, and attention, anything else is selfish nelect. All cats should be neutered and spayed and have all their injections up to date and be microchipped. It is not cheap to be an animal owner.

Adaline has a point that you can't possibly know what your cat is up to when they're not within your direct line of sight.

That said, interestingly enough, in Norway you will not be allowed to adopt a cat unless the cat will be let outside. If you don't have the potential for the cat to get outside (and a balcony doesn't count apparently) they won't let you adopt.

@adaline. The first paragraph was aimed at you. I wasn't suggesting you are hurting animals, apols if that is not clear in my comment.
I would be interested to know how you know all these animals are neutered. My neighbour has 4 cats, all neutered and they don't wander much further than the back yard either.

@gonetoget ah no worries

I can tell the males are neutered and I assume the females are as I see the same ones around all the time and none of them are ever pregnant! Obviously it's not 100% of them and we have barn cats here too, but the vast majority appear to be fixed.

Presumably unneutered, roaming females would end up pregnant fairly quickly?

It sounds like she hasn’t put spikes on your fence which she’s has no right to do.

Take lots of photos of them and your cat/house etc. Then take them down. If it turns out to be her fence/land and she puts up more spikes pour superglue on them and attach a pool noodle split up the middle on top of them. Repeat until she stops putting spikes up.

has put spikes on your fence.

I would be ripping those down in an absolute rage.

Yes, a bit of criminal damage never did any harm.

OP, find out who owns the fence before you do anything - someone definitely owns it.

@adaline. The cats in your town are darting out in front of your car and you are also getting a good glimpse of their testicles, or lack of when you are braking for them .

OP, find out who owns the fence before you do anything -someonedefinitely owns it.
It's been established the op owns it. Her fence, her spikes.

Poor kitty cat. Hope he is gonna be fine!

I hate when people use spikes. We used to have lots of cats poop in our garden, it wasn't great but I definitely didn't want to risk hurting the poor animals just because of a bit of poop. People get weird about these things.

Moved now and actually got a cat since. He is skittish so only goes out when we are around. He only goes to the garden for about 15 mins before he has had enough. Glad he isn't a roamer as I would be worried about him all the time. Some people are horrible to animals.

@Baaaahhhhh @MistyCloud I have to presume then you'd be ok with someone bringing their dog in to shit in your garden? People go absolutely mad about dog shit on the street or even dogs peeing in their garden.

The cats in your town are darting out in front of your car and you are also getting a good glimpse of their testicles, or lack of when you are braking for them

Yeah, because I definitely said I did both at the same time

I often have to brake for cats that are darting out in the road, but I also walk and have my own cats and see cats most days when I'm out and about doing general errands, plus quite a few end up in our garden/on the roof of our garage watching birds!

I don't think I go a day without seeing at least one or two random cats wandering around town, and most days we end up with one in our garden as well. I don't think that's so unusual - it's been the same no matter where I've lived. Cats roam and end up in all sorts of places. If you let your cat out at night or while you're out of the house, you can never say for sure where they end up!

It's your fence on your land, her land is the other side of the 'path' therefore she has zero right to put anything on the fence.

Photograph them and the blood on them then remove them and if she tries to complain show her the pictures and ask her if she has the deeds to demonstrate her ownership of the strip.

F*ck whether it’s legal or not - take them down!

I'm sure those spikes are classed as illegal in the UK under Animal Cruelty laws

How do they differ from the ones used to deter birds? I am sure they can't be illegal because you see them everywhere in public places.

Agree. Take them down yourself and if she complains show her your poor cat