Things are getting a little catty between a pair of homeowners in Birmingham!
“They stare into the windows and cause my cats to go absolutely crazy,” Lang said at the meeting. “They feel like their territory is being invaded.”
Lang said she talked to her neighbor several times about the situation, but the cats keep on popping up in her yard. Consequently, her cats are getting more aggressive in their play and twice now she’s been bitten by at least one of them, prompting her to file a police report. The bites were serious enough that she needed antibiotics.
“I’m a cat person, so the last thing I want to do is create problems for another cat owner,” Lang told the commission. “I love cats and I want them to be well cared for and I think the best place to do that is inside.”
Lang asked the commission to consider an ordinance which would address outdoor cats, similar to city ordinances that prohibit dogs from running loose in the neighborhood or disturbing the peace.
“Let’s include cats in the ordinance for disturbing the peace at the very minimum,” she said.
A Birmingham resident said a pair of outdoor cats are bothering her three indoor cats, BillyBob, Lilliana Leticia, and Monsieur Pepper. (Photo: submitted)
Deputy Police Chief Mark Clemence confirmed officers have gone out to the neighborhood on several occasions because of these cats. Clemence said officers advised Lang to trap the wayward cats in her yard and take them to Gasow Veterinary Hospital.
“At the very least it would force the owner to pay a boarding fee to pick them up,” he said.
Several of the commissioners were sympathetic to the situation and felt it was an unfair burden to require Lang to trap the cats and drive them herself to a veterinarian clinic.
“She’s probably not the only person in Birmingham who has a problem with cats intruding on her property,” Commissioner Patty Bordman said. “I do think we need to look at the ordinance and see what improvements we can make.”
“Isn’t there some type of ordinance for an animal or person being on your property?” Commissioner Mark Nickita asked. “ It goes beyond the cat issue … somebody’s property is on your property.”
Gasow worker Bonnie Thomas insists the best solution is to keep the cats indoors.
“Especially in this weather,” she said. “They get scared and take off.”