I was wrong.
There was a knock on my door this afternoon from a City Zoning officer. He wanted to see my "cat cage". He was extremely nice and I happily let him come inside. I could feel my heart beating in my chest. At the time, I wasn't sure if I was frightened or angry. It didn't take long for me to figure out which one it was.
Mr. Zoning Guy tells me that he needed to figure out if my cat den is in fact a "Structure". If it's a structure, it will have to be moved so that it's 2 feet away from their fence. The guy kind of rolled his eyes when he saw it - "what's the big deal" look. He's going to call me in two days and let me know. The good news is, I won't have to take it down. It'll have to be moved...and I can move it ANYWHERE as long as it isn't within 2 feet of their fence.
"Be careful what you ask for, Mr. and Mrs. Cat Haters" - I'll paint the damn thing orange and put it where they can actually see it. Right now - they can't even see the damn thing.
I'm surprised at how angry I am about this. I don't like the way this is darkening my heart. I felt the same way when a school bully was terrorizing my daughter. I don't like the ugliness that's stirring inside of me. Besides, it's detracting from me rescuing Zach today:
Who could sit by and let a face like this die? I brought Zach home and put him in my son's bedroom. He looked pretty dehydrated, so I decided to take him to the vets for fluids. He's still there now and I can hardly wait to pick him up.
I'm going to keep looking at this picture and not let myself go bizerk over the dimwits next door.
"Keep your eye on the ball, Beth." (Or set fire to some cat poop and leave it on their front door)
19 comments:
If you do something with flaming cat poop (no matter how tempting it may be) you won't have a credible leg to stand on. Take the high road Beth and don't let these fools next door see that they have rattled you. It's hard but I know you can do it :-)
OMG Zach is beautiful, I love the orange ones.
Beth- I would be more than happy to come over and help you decorate the cat den for halloween, or christmas, or valentines day....Just think...lights, streamers, the possibilities are endless. Did I also tell you that I can build a kick-ass snowman to stare over the fence at your neighbours? Oh....and I have actually done that before!!! For real!
Karin:)
Karin: I'll have coffee ready!
-B
Oh no Beth! I was hoping we would never hear about the wicked neighbours again... I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how angry I would be either. How petty and ridiculous! Zach's photo melted my heart... you KNOW I love the orange guys! What a sweetie pie.
Call your lawyer and advise him of what has happened. Make sure he has a paper trail of what they are doing. You are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property and you may be able to have a cease and desist letter sent. Document everything. Check out the by-laws to to see how many animals you can have as in Toronto fosters count also. Do not think that this is the end of it. I warned you before and it has only started. I have encountered these types before and they obviously have nothing better to do than try to harrass you and pick on the poor cats. They are the types that surrender them to the shelters or worse, like some idiot who lived up the street from me and very proudly one day told me how she had turned the cold hose on some small kittens in her yard. I asked her if that made her proud and that if I had known, I would have come and got them. I hated her...... Just be alert and cautious, these people get their jollies hurting others.....sick but simple... amd remember in the future, you don't have to let the animal control people in your house without a warrant. Once you have invited them in, you have opened the door (so to speak)
Joanne: Good advice, thank you! I'm afraid you're probably right that it's not over. Fortunately, the city that I live in has NO LIMIT on the number of cats that I can have, so I don't have to worry about that. I confirmed with the by-law/zoning guy AND the SPCA before I bought the house.
-B
Can you please post their address so that we can send them some hate mail? (tee hee) I'll also send them all the flyers I can find requesting donations to some fantastic animal groups/shelters. I just don't get people who don't like animals. Ggggrrrrrrr.
Thank you for rescuing Zach, that makes my heart happy. I hope he gets a clean bill of health.
Christine
Absolutely ridiciulous the amt of bullkaka they are putting you through. Keep at it Beth, you're dedication to the kitties is what is saving lives!!!!!!
Hi, Beth! I'll reiterate the "document, document, document".
But then I'll say that next time you see the neighbors, play super-dumb, super-friendly. "So, I had a visit from a Zoning officer who's going to figure out if my cat house is a structure. Whatever, he said it's not an issue either way. But he did tell me that I could legally have a cat house ABSOLUTELY ANYWHERE on my property, so long as it's 2 feet from the fence. That's so cool! That made me think that maybe I SHOULD move it, and maybe I should gussy it up some, too. Maybe put a cute wooden trim and colorful scalloping or something. Like a GREAT BIG gingerbread house FULL OF CATS! Wouldn't that look SO CUTE on our FRONT LAWN? In fact, it would be so cute, I might put ANOTHER one in the back yard! I'm so glad the Zoning guy came, because it's given me ALL SORTS of ideas!!!"
bwahaha, etc etc.
Renee
Renee: You're evil and I LOVE it!
-B
screw them, and if you move it, make it bigger and bolder for sure, complete with a motion-sensored light that shines right in their windows.
I love Zach, he looks absolutely precious. Everyone will want to adopt him, including me! I am so thankful he's free from death row, I have been thinking about him for 2 days now! You rock Beth.
You should send your neighbours a thank you card that reads "thanks so much for having a bylaw officer come to my house to ensure that my cat play house is completely within my rights as a homeowner. If you have any cats who would like to visit to play sometime, feel free to drop by…" hahaha
Julie
Julie: Bahahahahhahaha!!!! I'm going to send them a card!! Great idea!
Ooohhhh.....kitty playdates...and we could have 'cat den decorating' parties,and maybe do photoshoots for charity, .......ah the possibilities are endless! And we can do all this while enjoying a Starbucks!
Karin:)
I hope you made a report, Beth. Document their harassment inclusive of times and dates and keep all the pictures of your cat den.
I would also suggest putting up a sign, or at least somehow letting them know that the den is under 24 hr video surveillance (even if its not). I wouldn't put anything past them, including trying to hurt your cats.
Please talk to a lawyer before you do anything else.
You wrote that where you live it's legal to have any number of cats. Aren't you in the GTA? Every community I can think of has a maximum number of pets. Many of us cat folk would love to know where we can live and not be harassed!
Anonymous: I'm in Oakville :)
Renee and Karin and Beth,
I will bring the beer!!!! I have a friend having the same issues with her neighbours... he kills the racoons :( and has put up electrified wire over top of his fence to keep them out - WHATS WRONG WITH PEOPLE???
I'm upping my suggestion from a taller wooden fence to a 10 foot concrete wall with broken glass on top - like in Costa Rice :p painted neon orange on their side, but all on your property of course :) That'll teach them.
jen
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