I was eating dinner a couple of weeks ago and heard a lot of commotion outside in my back yard, kinda faint, but I knew something was going on... So anyhow I get out there and my dogs are attacking something in the far corner. I go back in to get a flashlight and come out and find it to be a cat. Needless to say it was not a pretty sight, with blood and fecal matter all over the thing. I put my dogs in the truck, the cat in a box and in the bed of truck, take the whole gang to the vet ER. My two check out fine, but the vet suggests we put the cat down. $200 bucks and two hours later I get home. No tags or info on the cat, so I just let them dispose of the animal carcass.
Fast forward to today, and the neighbor asks me if i had seen their cat. I asked what it looked like, with sure enough it was the cat that came into my backyard. I tell her what happened and gave the name of the vet who cared for the animal. She tells me I need to pay her $2000 since this was some special breed of cat. I tell her she is crazy to think that I am going to pay. She comes back later with the cops and and tells me she wants my two mutts put down since they are a dangerous pair and will probably kill people next. I tell the the above and show reciepts and the corner of the yard where it happened.
Thankfully I had called animal control about some cats that were marking the house and my truck a few months ago. They cought a couple of them and one had a collar with the owners name, and it turned out to be this neighbor, only helping my story. I tell them she pretty much doesn't have pets, just some animals she feeds, since they are outdoor animals and she just let's them roam. The cops go back to her house and find that she has ten cats, none of them registered, and one has a litter of 7. So they issue her a ticket for having too many cats, and another for not registering her animals. They tell me legally everything is most likely fine since it was in my back yard, I have registered my two, and tried to care for her animal. She says she is planning on suing me for pain and suffering since "Tammy" was her favorite cat and a loss of income since she could have bred her.
Cliff:
My dogs killed my neighbor's cat
Tried to take care of hurt cat, vet said put it down
Neighbor calls cops gets a ticket herself
Says she will sue me now for damages.
Update
I had a talk with the neighbor's "representative" because she couldn't speak. He tried at first to seem like a lawyer, refusing to identify himself other than her "legal representation". When I pressed him for his firm's name before I would speak at all, he finally fesses up that it is actually her husband's brother. Anyhow, he says the cat is a Himalayan Tabby and to replace would cost $2000 for the cat, plus another $300 for misc vet setup fees (like vacinations) and finnally, assuming they kept on pace with breeding her twice a year (which they claim they were) and a litter of 5 a time, the cat would still have 9 yrs of breed time = 90 kittens that would have been sold, meaning I should owe them $180,000. If I could not pay, then they would take me to court, or perhaps find some "middle ground". If not, then they would have no option but to call cops, get my dogs impounded, and try to sue me for my personal assets.
I told him he should call the cops, animal control, and my lawyer (who is actually an old friend from college) and gave him the number to her firm.
So I have never heard of anythign like this. Not to mention, their house looks like a dump, white trash to the "T", uncut lawn, old non-operable car on the driveway, dirty looking kids... If they were making 20k a year on this cat, I highly doubt they would live like this. Not to mention, I would sure as hell keep that cat indoors if I did. The Vet bill list the cat as a "feral" which i think means stray. I googled a himalayan, and it didn't look like the cats listed, the body coloring was similar, but did not have blue eyes and the head shape was like a normal tabby/cat, not the flat face and round head.
I hate people like this.
Cliff:
Neighor's husband's brother called trying to be a lawyer and "reason with me."
Told me I owe them $182,300 total to replace the cat and what it would have brought in over its life time.
Told them to go ahead and call the cops and my lawyer, who is really an old friend.
Cat didn't look anything like what the internet pics look like.
Update 4/21
They called my lawyer friend, and tried to get her to agree to anything. She had told them she had done a search with the Riverside County Police as well as Animal Control and informed her she had previous problems with her cats and was cited once before the day she got her last ticket. She currently does not have any animals registered under her or her husband, alive or otherwise. So she cannot make any claims unless she is acting on the written behalf of the actual owner. It turns out Cat Lady doesn't have any papers for this cat at all. Laywer friend also tells Cat Lady Lawyer Friend is now acting on behalf of me as a pro bono case. Any future inquires or contact regarding this case has to go through her and to not contact me directly.
My lawyer friend said it sounds like they just want anything at this point. I told her that replacing a stray cat with a neutered one from the pound would be fine. She can bill me for the adoption costs, which in riverside are the registration, the neutering or spaying, and a "filing fee", and it comes out to about 80 bucks. If Cat Lady wants anything else, tough, that is all that is on the table. My friend thinks I shouldn't even have to do that, but I am hoping that this will smooth things over with someone I never had any issues with before. I don't accept any guilt that isn't mine, and I don't give into some silly arguments, and a cat gets to have a home that would otherwise be euthanized.
Cliff:
Cat Lady calls Lawyer Friend. More of the same as before.
Lawyer Friend did some digging and found she doesn't have ANY pets registered and was cited before for having too many animals.
Told Lawyer Friend I will pay for adoption of new cat from Riverside Pound only if Cat Lady calls again.
[update] 5/26/06
Since you guys wanted it, here it is! A couple of weeks ago, Cat lady called Lawyer Friend again, which Lawyer Friend gave my offer. Cat Lady calls me, asking for the adoption money up front, which she "promised" to take straight to the shelter. I said I would only re-imburse her after she showed her paid bills and adoption papers. She complained that she doesn't have that kind of cash on hand for things like this and that won't work. I wouldn't budge from that. She suddenly blurts out and tells me some "random stray" wouldn't replace Tammy and to go f*&k myself and hangs up. Pretty safe to say this neighbor hates me and I am not willing to do anything else for her at this point. I am just tired of the whole situation and am more than glad if she just never speaks to me again.
I was also hanging out with my actual next door neighbor, and it turns out someone (I swear it wasn't me) complained about the non-operable car in front of Cat Lady's house, so the police gave her a warning ticket, because it is not registered as non-operable or at all. Which is obvious though, since it does not have any wheels or passenger doors, and is missing the rear windsheild. So they say she either registers it, or they tow it. It is gone now, so I guess they towed it.
But the neighbor's wife was doing some yard work in the front, and the Cat lady drives up to their house, and was screaming that she knows it was either them or me that called the cops and warns her that my dogs are getting into other people's yards to kill animals and maybe people if they get the chance. She also starts to demand to know why we hate her so much and why we can't mind our own buisness. My next door neighbor didn't know what to say and just goes back inside to avoid her.
Cliff:
Cat Lady calls to try to get money for replacement adopted cat up-front.
I refuse.
She tells me to go f&*k myself. We haven't spoken since.
Cat Lady's non-operable car is cited and towed.
She blames my next door neighbor or me for calling the cops on her.
Fast forward to today, and the neighbor asks me if i had seen their cat. I asked what it looked like, with sure enough it was the cat that came into my backyard. I tell her what happened and gave the name of the vet who cared for the animal. She tells me I need to pay her $2000 since this was some special breed of cat. I tell her she is crazy to think that I am going to pay. She comes back later with the cops and and tells me she wants my two mutts put down since they are a dangerous pair and will probably kill people next. I tell the the above and show reciepts and the corner of the yard where it happened.
Thankfully I had called animal control about some cats that were marking the house and my truck a few months ago. They cought a couple of them and one had a collar with the owners name, and it turned out to be this neighbor, only helping my story. I tell them she pretty much doesn't have pets, just some animals she feeds, since they are outdoor animals and she just let's them roam. The cops go back to her house and find that she has ten cats, none of them registered, and one has a litter of 7. So they issue her a ticket for having too many cats, and another for not registering her animals. They tell me legally everything is most likely fine since it was in my back yard, I have registered my two, and tried to care for her animal. She says she is planning on suing me for pain and suffering since "Tammy" was her favorite cat and a loss of income since she could have bred her.
Cliff:
My dogs killed my neighbor's cat
Tried to take care of hurt cat, vet said put it down
Neighbor calls cops gets a ticket herself
Says she will sue me now for damages.
Update
I had a talk with the neighbor's "representative" because she couldn't speak. He tried at first to seem like a lawyer, refusing to identify himself other than her "legal representation". When I pressed him for his firm's name before I would speak at all, he finally fesses up that it is actually her husband's brother. Anyhow, he says the cat is a Himalayan Tabby and to replace would cost $2000 for the cat, plus another $300 for misc vet setup fees (like vacinations) and finnally, assuming they kept on pace with breeding her twice a year (which they claim they were) and a litter of 5 a time, the cat would still have 9 yrs of breed time = 90 kittens that would have been sold, meaning I should owe them $180,000. If I could not pay, then they would take me to court, or perhaps find some "middle ground". If not, then they would have no option but to call cops, get my dogs impounded, and try to sue me for my personal assets.
I told him he should call the cops, animal control, and my lawyer (who is actually an old friend from college) and gave him the number to her firm.
So I have never heard of anythign like this. Not to mention, their house looks like a dump, white trash to the "T", uncut lawn, old non-operable car on the driveway, dirty looking kids... If they were making 20k a year on this cat, I highly doubt they would live like this. Not to mention, I would sure as hell keep that cat indoors if I did. The Vet bill list the cat as a "feral" which i think means stray. I googled a himalayan, and it didn't look like the cats listed, the body coloring was similar, but did not have blue eyes and the head shape was like a normal tabby/cat, not the flat face and round head.
I hate people like this.
Cliff:
Neighor's husband's brother called trying to be a lawyer and "reason with me."
Told me I owe them $182,300 total to replace the cat and what it would have brought in over its life time.
Told them to go ahead and call the cops and my lawyer, who is really an old friend.
Cat didn't look anything like what the internet pics look like.
Update 4/21
They called my lawyer friend, and tried to get her to agree to anything. She had told them she had done a search with the Riverside County Police as well as Animal Control and informed her she had previous problems with her cats and was cited once before the day she got her last ticket. She currently does not have any animals registered under her or her husband, alive or otherwise. So she cannot make any claims unless she is acting on the written behalf of the actual owner. It turns out Cat Lady doesn't have any papers for this cat at all. Laywer friend also tells Cat Lady Lawyer Friend is now acting on behalf of me as a pro bono case. Any future inquires or contact regarding this case has to go through her and to not contact me directly.
My lawyer friend said it sounds like they just want anything at this point. I told her that replacing a stray cat with a neutered one from the pound would be fine. She can bill me for the adoption costs, which in riverside are the registration, the neutering or spaying, and a "filing fee", and it comes out to about 80 bucks. If Cat Lady wants anything else, tough, that is all that is on the table. My friend thinks I shouldn't even have to do that, but I am hoping that this will smooth things over with someone I never had any issues with before. I don't accept any guilt that isn't mine, and I don't give into some silly arguments, and a cat gets to have a home that would otherwise be euthanized.
Cliff:
Cat Lady calls Lawyer Friend. More of the same as before.
Lawyer Friend did some digging and found she doesn't have ANY pets registered and was cited before for having too many animals.
Told Lawyer Friend I will pay for adoption of new cat from Riverside Pound only if Cat Lady calls again.
[update] 5/26/06
Since you guys wanted it, here it is! A couple of weeks ago, Cat lady called Lawyer Friend again, which Lawyer Friend gave my offer. Cat Lady calls me, asking for the adoption money up front, which she "promised" to take straight to the shelter. I said I would only re-imburse her after she showed her paid bills and adoption papers. She complained that she doesn't have that kind of cash on hand for things like this and that won't work. I wouldn't budge from that. She suddenly blurts out and tells me some "random stray" wouldn't replace Tammy and to go f*&k myself and hangs up. Pretty safe to say this neighbor hates me and I am not willing to do anything else for her at this point. I am just tired of the whole situation and am more than glad if she just never speaks to me again.
I was also hanging out with my actual next door neighbor, and it turns out someone (I swear it wasn't me) complained about the non-operable car in front of Cat Lady's house, so the police gave her a warning ticket, because it is not registered as non-operable or at all. Which is obvious though, since it does not have any wheels or passenger doors, and is missing the rear windsheild. So they say she either registers it, or they tow it. It is gone now, so I guess they towed it.
But the neighbor's wife was doing some yard work in the front, and the Cat lady drives up to their house, and was screaming that she knows it was either them or me that called the cops and warns her that my dogs are getting into other people's yards to kill animals and maybe people if they get the chance. She also starts to demand to know why we hate her so much and why we can't mind our own buisness. My next door neighbor didn't know what to say and just goes back inside to avoid her.
Cliff:
Cat Lady calls to try to get money for replacement adopted cat up-front.
I refuse.
She tells me to go f&*k myself. We haven't spoken since.
Cat Lady's non-operable car is cited and towed.
She blames my next door neighbor or me for calling the cops on her.