So, I need a Cat whacked....

[Rel]

Could it not be that Vraile is the "Agent of Karma" who is visiting threefold death back upon the cat for the birds that it has killed? And if Karma is such a done-deal, then how come careless-cat-owner hasn't had a camel take a crap on her lawn or something?

It all sounds kinda fishy to me.

I'm all for trying to avoid harming animals where possible (unless they are yummy) but you gotta draw the line somewhere. I had a couple of woodpeckers that decided they were going to peck holes in my house. I tried to just shoo those bastards away but they kept coming back. So I shot them. Problem solved.

Now maybe I could have tried to hang tin foil all over my house or buy paint that tastes bad in the hopes that I could ward them off. But I've got stuff to do in life besides take time consuming measures to assure the continued existence of every lower life form that wants to hurt my property. If they want to peck holes in somebody's house they'd better go to some hippy druid's place.

'Cause I'm armed and I don't believe in Karma.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

I'm all for trying to avoid harming animals where possible (unless they are yummy) but you gotta draw the line somewhere. I had a couple of woodpeckers that decided they were going to peck holes in my house. I tried to just shoo those bastards away but they kept coming back. So I shot them. Problem solved.

Umm, that could be very bad.

Woodpeckers targeting your house that is.

We live in a brick house & we have (or had since the cat moved in) woodpeckers pecking at the house. In the spring they were 'drumming' on marking out their territory. This is obvious as they are being as loud as possible (they REALLY love metal poles for this), and it only lasts few weeks. The other time they peck on the brick is to eat insects crawling over the bricks.

If woodpeckers start makign holes in your wood, they do it for 2 reasons.

1. Food. They hear/sense bugs in the wood & are goin' in after it. Termites are the worse bugs they could be drillin' for. I'd check it out for insect life.

2. Homes. Woodpeckers (most breeds) make their homes by hollowing out spaces in dead trees. They CAN mistake a wooden home for a dead tree.... But pressure-treated/stained/ properly preserved wood usually sets them off so they won't touch it. They usually only go for houses only if the wood is rotted or for some strange reason, regular wood was used with no preservative treatment what-so-ever.

So, if you see them pecking, be sure to check the area they're exploring.

 

[mythusmage]

Blacksilver, karma is no excuse for not taking action. The woman is being irresponsible. She either learns responsibility, or she will be removed from society. And penal institutions are karmically proactive.

When you are done wrong you have the responsibility to deal with it. Not some character up in the sky, or some sort of reciprocity, you. You don't take action to end the abuse you become party to it, an accessory to the fact. By refusing to take action you become as guilty as the original perpetrator.

How you treat people who have, at the worst, done you no harm is one thing. But when somebody does harm to you and yours, that is another. When someone hurts you, you stop them, and you use whatever means necessary. No one has the right to harm someone who is not harming them. Vraille is not harming the woman, but by her neglect of the cat she is causing harm to Vraille. At present her behavior cannot be addressed directly, but the cat can be removed from its current environment. Hopefully to be put in a caring home, but if that is not possible and the animal cannot be rehabilitated, put to death because it cannot fit into a human world.

This can be a hard world and sometimes you have to do hard things. There's no way around it. By refusing to do what's necessary because it might rebound on you, you make the situation much worse. It's what's adult responsibility is all about. A woman refuses to be responsible, and so lives around her are degraded and small lives are ended. It is time she learned her behavior will not be tolerated. So long as you live as part of a society you will live by the rules, or you won't be a part of society. That is one of the hard things you learn to do when you become an adult.

Oh, and Umbran, there are those who are called white trash, and those who are white trash. There are those who work hard to get out of the gutter, and those who like it there. Help the former as much as you are able, but let the latter be. For they are a touchy people and their resentment will taint all around them. You can't help everybody. You try to raise all out of the muck you wind up raising none. Reserve your efforts for those who will accept the help, and let the rest be. You do better when you treat each as an individual, instead of as a unit in a faceless mass.

 

[Rel]

So, if you see them pecking, be sure to check the area they're exploring.

Fear not. Since that time the house has been repainted and they don't seem to be returning. No sign of termites.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Karma doesn’t care who started it.

It is about what you consciously do. Say you trap this cat and turn it over to the authorities, and the woman pays the toll she has to pay in order to get her beloved cat back. Say she does that, why? Because she cares about her cat. She takes the cat inside and you never hear from it or hear again.

Karma demands you pay that back three found.

So I just wait around for Karma to do my work for me?

I'm not just going out and killing her cat & hiding the body.

I'm having an issue with her cat. Its harming my property, destroying one of my hobbies & making a general nuisance of itself. I did the RIGHT thing. I went to the woman & asked how we could come to a solution about her cat. She basically told me "It's a cat. It does what a cat does. I can't be responsible for what my cat does." Which is false. If the cat gets rabies & attacks a kid down the street, the cops charge more than the cat with a crime.

I've tried the nice thing. She basically told me "I'm not going to help you deal with my cat." The other half to that is "You'll have to deal with it yourself."

So I am. Animal Control is the correct step. I might try the tricks others have posted, but that's not the 'correct' step. The correct step is to inform the proper authorties about the cat. Cats have to have a registration tag in our town, and there is a reason for it (unwanted strays are jsut another form of vermin). The cat needs to have its shots up to date, it needs to be spayed/nuetered unless you PLAN to breed it (this cat's a mutt), for the general welfare of the entiere community, the cat needs to have all these shots/vacinations. To allow it to run around, until something bad happens to it/others; well that could just be my 'Bad Karma' from something else I did, couldn't it?


Sure, I can wait for Karma to solve my problems for me. I prefer to work to solve my problems for myself. (I'm not trying to do bad things to her cat, I'm just trying to enjoy my hobby. The cat's owner doesn't care about me, & despite everything, I DO care about her cat, which is why it isn't dead or in the hands of Animal Control yet).

I won't just sit back & ignore this. I prefer Fate to Karma. There is no Karma here, there is Fate, which is what you make of It.

PS. My wife is allergic to anything with fur, Chinchillas excepted (and we don't want a 300 dollar, very soft rat).

 

[BlackSilver]

I do not believe I ever implied the the cat was going to die by anyone's hands.

And to make matters a little more clear, I never said that doing nothing while waiting for Karma to take care of the matter was a good idea. I was trying to explain that should you take actions that could cause some Bad Karma then you will have to pay it back.

Allowing the cat to continue is not something you should allow.

There are a lot of ways to go able resolving this without incurring the debt I spoke of, you just need to find it.

Good luck

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Easy: animal control.

Hard, but less guilt: Cats can be trained. If they don't go in your yard, train them to go elsewhere. As mentioned: the garden hose, the pellet gun, some flypaper left lying around the bird feeders, or best: rent a dog from a friend for a week or two. Meanwhile, throw cat food over the neighbor's fence.

Dangerous, but permanent: .22 long rifle.

 

[mythusmage]

My wife is allergic to anything with fur, Chinchillas excepted (and we don't want a 300 dollar, very soft rat).

Consult an allergist. Your wife's condition is potentially life threatening, what with all the fuzzy critters out there. Ask about desensitization treatment. Might work, might not, but you won't know until you try.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Consult an allergist. Your wife's condition is potentially life threatening, what with all the fuzzy critters out there. Ask about desensitization treatment. Might work, might not, but you won't know until you try.

She was on EPD allergy treatment. And was doing better. Then the FDA outlawed it (despite admitting it was safer than traditional allergy shots, th ecompany didn't keep their paperwork straight). So, we've started going to Canada (where it's still legal). She found out the doctor she was getting her shots from here wasn't doing it right.

She's doing real good. Only has to have the shot once every 9 months or so. In fact, EPD actaully cures most people of allergies over the course of treatment (or they only need a shot once every 5 years or so).

We're not sure Canada is still an option for much longer.

But, an American version of the EPD shot (LDA) is now available. My wife has a SEVERE family history of allergies. Traditional allergy shots made her so sick, she can barely move for 2 weeks.

 

[mythusmage]

Vraille,

Ouch! Extend my sympathies. I hope the course of treatment proves successful. Oh, if you ever have kids (if you don't already), let 'em get dirty. They'll end up healthier in the long run. Remember, the Devil has work for idle immune systems.