4 ms·

Yeah there’s no way that would happen in the west. In Canada you often hear stories of cats on the edge of properties or just sitting in a field and some lady d

by dmix 2y ago

Yeah there’s no way that would happen in the west. In Canada you often hear stories of cats on the edge of properties or just sitting in a field and some lady driving by will stop, pick it up and drop it off at the shelter (which in some cases will only hold them for a few days before giving them away). There’s a huge well organized group of people keeping every animal not fully controlled in check and not keeping them indoors is frowned upon. It’s mostly cultural not just animal control regulation, like most enforcement of municipal rules.

eru 2y ago
> There’s a huge well organized group of people keeping every animal not fully controlled in check and not keeping them indoors is frowned upon. Why does this work for cats but not for rats?
- ElevenLathe 2y ago
  There's no old ladies willing to pick up rats in their car, and no rat shelters to take them to if there were.
alwa 2y ago
I have friends in the countryside in North America, and I can corroborate that: as development has encroached, the new subdivisions have filled with former city-dwellers. Three times in a single month, do-gooder passers-by trespassed past a prominent fence to nab my friends’ dog, who would snooze innocently in the front pasture in the afternoon, and “rescue” him to the county lockup. The animal control people know him by name now, but they can’t do much to waive the mandatory “re-adoption fee”…
- ant6n 2y ago
  Wait so random people steal this person’s property, hand off to some (presumably) public agency, and the agency is charging a fee to have said property released? Sometimes it seems the US is a strange place. (Maybe the dog is missing dog tags?)
  - alwa 2y ago
    That’s correct! Nothing punitive, just “admin fees,” I guess to cover the cost of a kennel for the afternoon and of reading his microchip to confirm his vaccination status. They’re really big on “user fees” around there—they even charge prisoners a nightly fee for “using” the cells they were imprisoned in [0] I’d venture that there’s grey area there that’s relevant here: to you and me, the animal probably registers as “property,” where to the people doing the “rescuing” it must look more like a precious innocent soul cast out into the cruel harsh world (like the kids they repossess as “neglected” for walking around their block untethered to a parent or nanny [1]). I figure too many superhero movies and crime shows, and not enough exposure to the natural world. The dog did have collar and name tag; his tags have since been expanded and clarified, and large signs erected at the edge of the property with a photo of the dog and “I LIVE HERE”… so far much better results. And yet. [0] https://www.npr.org/2022/03/04/1084452251/the-vast-majority-of-states-allow-people-to-be-charged-for-time-behind-bars https://www.npr.org/2022/03/04/1084452251/the-vast-majority-... [1] e.g. https://reason.com/2024/11/11/mom-jailed-for-letting-10-year-old-walk-alone-to-town/ https://reason.com/2024/11/11/mom-jailed-for-letting-10-year... and https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/free-range-parents-found-responsible-child-neglect-allowing/story?id=29363859 https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/free-range-parents-found-re...
SoftTalker 2y ago
Nobody is “picking up” a feral cat unless they like bites and deep scratches. If you can approach and pick up a cat, it’s a pet. Leave it be and it will go home when it wants to.
- dmix 2y ago
  I've seen citizens trap racoons and release them further from their property. My mom got an annoying feral cat in her car and also dropped it off many km away and it showed up again a week later.

by dmix 2y ago

eru 2y ago

> There’s a huge well organized group of people keeping every animal not fully controlled in check and not keeping them indoors is frowned upon. Why does this work for cats but not for rats?

ElevenLathe 2y ago
There's no old ladies willing to pick up rats in their car, and no rat shelters to take them to if there were.

alwa 2y ago

I have friends in the countryside in North America, and I can corroborate that: as development has encroached, the new subdivisions have filled with former city-dwellers. Three times in a single month, do-gooder passers-by trespassed past a prominent fence to nab my friends’ dog, who would snooze innocently in the front pasture in the afternoon, and “rescue” him to the county lockup. The animal control people know him by name now, but they can’t do much to waive the mandatory “re-adoption fee”…

ant6n 2y ago
Wait so random people steal this person’s property, hand off to some (presumably) public agency, and the agency is charging a fee to have said property released? Sometimes it seems the US is a strange place. (Maybe the dog is missing dog tags?)
- alwa 2y ago
  That’s correct! Nothing punitive, just “admin fees,” I guess to cover the cost of a kennel for the afternoon and of reading his microchip to confirm his vaccination status. They’re really big on “user fees” around there—they even charge prisoners a nightly fee for “using” the cells they were imprisoned in [0] I’d venture that there’s grey area there that’s relevant here: to you and me, the animal probably registers as “property,” where to the people doing the “rescuing” it must look more like a precious innocent soul cast out into the cruel harsh world (like the kids they repossess as “neglected” for walking around their block untethered to a parent or nanny [1]). I figure too many superhero movies and crime shows, and not enough exposure to the natural world. The dog did have collar and name tag; his tags have since been expanded and clarified, and large signs erected at the edge of the property with a photo of the dog and “I LIVE HERE”… so far much better results. And yet. [0] https://www.npr.org/2022/03/04/1084452251/the-vast-majority-of-states-allow-people-to-be-charged-for-time-behind-bars https://www.npr.org/2022/03/04/1084452251/the-vast-majority-... [1] e.g. https://reason.com/2024/11/11/mom-jailed-for-letting-10-year-old-walk-alone-to-town/ https://reason.com/2024/11/11/mom-jailed-for-letting-10-year... and https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/free-range-parents-found-responsible-child-neglect-allowing/story?id=29363859 https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/free-range-parents-found-re...

SoftTalker 2y ago

Nobody is “picking up” a feral cat unless they like bites and deep scratches. If you can approach and pick up a cat, it’s a pet. Leave it be and it will go home when it wants to.

dmix 2y ago
I've seen citizens trap racoons and release them further from their property. My mom got an annoying feral cat in her car and also dropped it off many km away and it showed up again a week later.