Hey all -
Mim – our beloved warrior princess in the form a blue-ish gray cat with a peach belly – was killed Sunday, Sept 2nd by dogs that wandered into our yard. She was taken violently from the chair where she peacefully slept on our back porch - shaken viciously a time or 2 as dogs will do – and left to die in the wet grass not 10 feet away.
I had seen her before I went to bed that night – about 12:30am. I kissed her head and patted her down as I do every night. I discovered her at 6:30am that morning – so the tragedy happened at some point after we were all sleeping. We heard or saw nothing.
The next day I went out and bought a trail-camera - to see if I could monitor what was going on in my backyard at night - particularly my own back porch. I set up Mim's chair with the same towels and such (she had a little canopy to keep the rain off) and have been taking pictures every night.
The first few nights we got nothing - a stray cat here or there - a opossum, a raccoon, etc. A couple of nights the camera wasn't working properly so we didn't get good exposures. We returned the unit yesterday and last night we were able to capture on film and positively ID'd two neighborhood dogs. They were in or around our yard from 1:45am to 5:45am. They entered our garage and tore up two towels that I had wrapped Mim in before burying her. These were strewn out in the yard.
The dogs belong to a family across the street and down just a ways - they own an apple orchard and have HUNDREDS of acres these dogs could be exploring. Instead, they are clearly entering our yard in search of more cats which thankfully - I have kept inside. (Minus one stray that I was feeding who is thus far still missing from last night.)
I want to do the right thing here. We've met these people and they seem to be pretty nice.
This conversation will happen tonight. We’ve printed off all of the photos we have. Even a few of Mim – post-tragedy that we took. We will put the evidence in front of them and go from there. Either they will accept responsibility for this and be remorseful for their irresponsibility – or they won’t. Their decision will advance our next step. Of course if my cat(s) had been killed on the neighbor's property I would not be having this conversation. The fact that this is happening on my doorstep is something that needs to be addressed.
Is this the best possible course of action? Our nerves are so fried right now - I want to ensure I make all the right moves. This conversation could hinge on us staying here or getting the **** far away.
Mim – our beloved warrior princess in the form a blue-ish gray cat with a peach belly – was killed Sunday, Sept 2nd by dogs that wandered into our yard. She was taken violently from the chair where she peacefully slept on our back porch - shaken viciously a time or 2 as dogs will do – and left to die in the wet grass not 10 feet away.
I had seen her before I went to bed that night – about 12:30am. I kissed her head and patted her down as I do every night. I discovered her at 6:30am that morning – so the tragedy happened at some point after we were all sleeping. We heard or saw nothing.
The next day I went out and bought a trail-camera - to see if I could monitor what was going on in my backyard at night - particularly my own back porch. I set up Mim's chair with the same towels and such (she had a little canopy to keep the rain off) and have been taking pictures every night.
The first few nights we got nothing - a stray cat here or there - a opossum, a raccoon, etc. A couple of nights the camera wasn't working properly so we didn't get good exposures. We returned the unit yesterday and last night we were able to capture on film and positively ID'd two neighborhood dogs. They were in or around our yard from 1:45am to 5:45am. They entered our garage and tore up two towels that I had wrapped Mim in before burying her. These were strewn out in the yard.
The dogs belong to a family across the street and down just a ways - they own an apple orchard and have HUNDREDS of acres these dogs could be exploring. Instead, they are clearly entering our yard in search of more cats which thankfully - I have kept inside. (Minus one stray that I was feeding who is thus far still missing from last night.)
I want to do the right thing here. We've met these people and they seem to be pretty nice.
This conversation will happen tonight. We’ve printed off all of the photos we have. Even a few of Mim – post-tragedy that we took. We will put the evidence in front of them and go from there. Either they will accept responsibility for this and be remorseful for their irresponsibility – or they won’t. Their decision will advance our next step. Of course if my cat(s) had been killed on the neighbor's property I would not be having this conversation. The fact that this is happening on my doorstep is something that needs to be addressed.
Is this the best possible course of action? Our nerves are so fried right now - I want to ensure I make all the right moves. This conversation could hinge on us staying here or getting the **** far away.
