Day of the Living Asshats

[jamesq]

nosarious and I went to fetch Spanky this morning. It was trapped by my neighbor across the street (the trap is still visible on his front porch). According to the City's Cat Complaint page, the first option should be to talk to the neighbor. The next is to trap the cat and inform the city of who's cat it is (if you know this information, and my neighbor does, in fact, know this). The cat will then be taken to the pound and the owners will be notified.

We got no notification, the only reason we knew the cat was taken to the pound and not simply dead from being hit by a car or a cougar was because another neighbor saw the Animal Control truck come by. The asshat never told animal control who's cat it was. If we'd been later then 4 days retrieving Spanky, he'd have been adopted out to someone else.

Yeah, it's partially our fault, Spanky managed to lose his collar, so while he's licensed, his tags aren't attached to him at all. Also, we let him outside. I've always considered roaming cats to be a roughly equivalent to smoking outside. There's places where it's technically illegal, but unless you're in someone's face about it, nobody really cares. Still, the guy could have handled this in a ton of ways that didn't have to include scaring the shit out of a poor cat overnight. Poor thing was meowing all the way home, it was so scared.

Did I bitch about him shoveling his snow into the street last winter (incidentally trapping thebrucie's car one day, which took us about a half an hour to dig out? Probably wouldn't have happened if he'd done it properly and shoveled onto his lawn. Did I call him an ignorant fucktard for having a Separatist Party of Alberta bumber sticker on his truck? Nope.

He's been trapping other cats in the neighborhood, as evidenced by the continued presence of the trap on his deck.

Anyway, we dealt with that drama this morning. Spanky is back, nosarious is poorer, and my low opinion of the asshat neighbor is even lower.

I drove around running other errands today. For the most part, every person I dealt with outside of the car was kind, considerate and willing to help me with my tasks. Conversely, every single driver had a retard sandwich for lunch. Seriously, I got cut off so often I was wondering if silver is the new invisible. And I saw lots of other people getting cut off too. Nobody singled, people were doing right lane passes if it looked like their drive was going to be delayed by even a second. It was brutal. And it's weird that I only ever see this shit on the weekends. It's like commuters are docile during the weekdays and then go nuts on the weekends.

The urge to be just as asshole-ish was strong, but I willed myself to be a courteous driver. I'd leave room for merges, let people in when traffic was a stand-still, etc. I got a handful of thank you waves, which made it all worth it. Not everyone was an asshat (or sandwich-of-dubious-fixings eater) it seems.

Comments

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose you're lucky enough to have any sort of proof that the neighbour knows whose cat it is?

*sigh* I hate that guy.

[jamesq]

He's witnessed us letting Spanky in and out of the house. Our front doors face each other, so it's not difficult.

But no, I have no proof that a court would accept.

[jamesq]

That's worth looking into.

[petranef.livejournal.com]

"It"?????

[jamesq]

Not sure which "it" you're referring to.

[petranef.livejournal.com]

You refer to your cat as an "it." That is a pronoun which refers to objects, not beings.

[jamesq]

My use of "it" in this case is grammatically correct as it is used for a non-human where the gender is irrelevant.

I understand that you're worried It shows a callous disregard for animals, but I think I've made clear that I care for Spanky a lot in this post.

[petranef.livejournal.com]

I deeply disagree with that usage. Just because it's a common usage, doesn't mean it's right. It reduces the being in
question to an object, a thing.

Well, your post made it clear that you were annoyed with your neighbor (and rightly so).... But I am happy to hear that you care for him.

[petranef.livejournal.com]

Removal of the reproductive organs doesn't change the inherent gender of the being in question.

Do you refer to women who have had a hysterectomy as "it"?

[evilscientist.livejournal.com]

Not that escalation is the thing to do, but shoveling your snow onto the street is against city bylaws and if you report it when he does it...

[jamesq]

Well next time I see him, I'm going to point out that he should have said something first instead of trapping our damn cat.

Escalation, appealing though it may be, might result in him trapping and harming Spanky. He's already shown strong streaks of passive-aggressiveness combined with little concern for animals.

[rectangularcat]

lucky for you he's calling animal control. last time I heard of someone doing this, they were driving the poor cats across town and dumping them in a park. my friend eventually found her cat but it was months later and after the neighbour's wife eventually told her out of guilt (since she was still looking for her cat and asking about it every time she saw her).

[jamesq]

Jeebus. What the hell happened after that? I can't imagine that was the end of it.

[rectangularcat]

cops had a visit but nothing they could charge with unfortunately.

tense neighbour relations since then.

really, count yourself lucky. some people do horrible things to "save" their garden.

[jamesq]

Do you mean lay it down flat as ground cover, or use it to "fence in" an area?

[ladyerwyn.livejournal.com]

Maybe you could release termites into his house. Not a good Karmic action, but he sounds like a asshole with complete disregard for all other people. I'd definitely make the city check to make sure his trap is legal. Maybe you can also file a complaint with the city. Oh and you could keep your cat inside. I'd only let mine outside if we lived in the country and I'd still be nervous it would get hit by a car. I'm glad your cat is okay.

[oblivions.livejournal.com]

To be the outright jerk on this tread and taking your analogy of smoking outside to the next step' no one likes a flower bed full of butts (read poop) from the neighbor flicking them over the fence.

A cat once in while can be dealt with, but if there is a number of them roaming, having to guard my property from your cat seems a little... rude?

[jamesq]

"Hey neighbor, your cat keeps shitting in my garden - think you can reign him in?"
"sure, let me see what I can do."

[ya-inga.livejournal.com]

Gotta chime in on this - I resent dealing with cat surprises when I garden.

I think this neightbor is an epic asshat and hurting animals is solid evil but still.... letting animals roam the neighborhood is not ok in my books. Just cause they are cats is no exception. If I let my 125 pound Labrador roam - folks would freak and I would get a fine.

Keep the cat indoors or outside on a leash and you have no worries.