Cat Trappers?!

[Grimace]

You have no right to be upset AT ALL. You left your cat outside and it wandered into a HARMLESS live trap.

You need to keep your pets in the house where they belong, or deal with the consequences of letting them out- they could get trapped, or they could get KILLED.

The people with the trap were probably after a coon, skunk, prairie dog, or doing a trap/release on a feral. There's all sorts of reasons to leave out a live trap with cat food in it. You ought to be thankful they are using a live trap, not a snare or crush trap or leaving out poison or simply shooting whatever wanders onto the property.

Agreed.

Also, outdoor cats should be under the exact same laws as outdoor dogs. Cats absolutely should not be allowed out to roam neighborhoods.

[Dappled Sapphire]

I also have a cat but as hes a ragdoll I don't even let him in the backyard because I don't want him to get used to being outside. When he was younger he would try to get outside every chance he got but now hes a bit older we can leave the door open and he will just sit there looking out

I know of a few people who's cats have been hit by cars right outside their house, I could not imagined letting my pet roam around the neighbourhood and not knowing where it was

[Jazi]

If cats are going missing in the area it's more likely that you have an owl, a fisher or even a large fox hanging around. That might even be what the people were trying to catch in the trap.

Indoor/outdoor debate aside, those aren't the only things that will kill or maim outdoor cats.

Stray/outdoor dogs, raccoons, possums, even groundhogs get into fights with cats. And for raccoons and possums, you don't have to see them to know that they're there. If I didn't live next to a highway while I was a kid, I wouldn't have seen the evidence in the form of roadkill, and I certainly never saw a live one until I moved into the inner city and left my fire escape door open for ventilation (long story short, it had climbed up my fire escape and was annoying my cat through the window). Raccoons and possums are nasty fighters; since I saw the big male irritate my cat, I've also witnessed him beating on any outdoor cats that think they'll steal food from him. Hawks, owls, and other birds of prey will also pick fights with cats and will carry off kittens. If there's a lot of cats going missing, it could be a trapper, but it could also be someone trying to catch whatever's picking off the cats.

Live traps aren't inherently cruel and are definitely the most humane resource to someone who has a problem with feral cats or someone who wants to relocate a wild animal to stop it from causing trouble around town. Perhaps instead of being upset that she traps them should they go in her yard, you could think of ways to keep them from entering in the first place? And get your cats microchipped; collars are useless as they can be removed and most of them are break-away. It hurts less than a shot and will save you a lot of greif if your cats ARE ever mistaken for strays.

[Angelus Gaston]

Were planing on getting alive trap brought to ours to catch an injured fox that likes to sit in our yard during the day (yes in the day) we think its one someone raised and let as it has collar on. She only use's one of her back legs the other is cared up when she walks.

I dont mind live traps and do use them to chatch rats which we then take up to fields about an hours walk from us. Unless the lurcher gets hold of them befor we set the traps. For all you know like many have said they could have been after something elsa (I'm British we dont have racoons or the like but we do get foxes and stray cats) and with using cat food its bound to get cats as well. I would give them the benefit of the doubet they might not have none they caught your cat and if your that worried talk to them and ask them if they catch your cat again to let her go or bring her round to you.