Re: [CH] OT: pets and responsibility
Meconella@aol.com
Sun, 3 Jun 2001 21:10:19 EDT
In a message dated 6/3/01 10:23:57 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
macknet@pacbell.net writes:
<< Who is responsible for the unintended
consequences of such private property trespass...the property owner
or the pet owner? >>
Perhaps both to a degree. The property owner has the obligation to use his
chemical judiciously, not only for others pets, but also for birds and other
wild critters, but the pet owner has a greater responsibility to accept the
consequences for allowing his pets to wander. In the same way a parent has
greater responsibility for his own children. It would be nice to be able
trust everyone else, but you simply cant.
If you have free-ranging cats specifically to control rodents, I would not
get attached to them. Their life expectancy would be probably low for many
reasons. If I had a cat that was a loved pet however, I would keep it
totally indoors, or build an enclosure for it(them) as I have done for my
own two beloved cats. A simple metal wire fenced area 5 feet high, with no
solid wood posts (thin metal stakes) or adjacent trees to climb does a
wonderful job. My cats have been indoor-outdoor (but only in their large
enclosure -- my veggie garden) for more than 3 years and have never been able
to figure out how to climb over the see-through wire fencing. They are not
brain deficient either. They never go into anyone else's yard, and I dont
worry that they'll get accidentally poisoned, nor that the local coyotes will
eat them. Not only does this wire enclosure keep my cats in, it keeps
neighborhood cats out.
Hence I say its more my responsibility for them. While I would like others
to be responsible, that is sometimes not possible. So if I like my pets and
want nothing to happen to them, and I do, I dont trust their safety to
anyone else but me.
Does the fact my kitties sleep under the mature chile forest in the summer
make this 'on topic'?
Meconella