response 1 of 84:

Aug 22 14:27 UTC 1997

RAt poison or a .22 caliber... Ooowwwww, Oowwww, stop, Twila, stop....

For real, go out and buy a live trap box, bait it with some tuna, adn catch
them.

I have never thought the Humane Society was very helpful.  How much are they
gonna charge you to bring them in?

Call the county animal control officer for some advice on how to catch them.
Contact him thru the sheriffs office.

response 3 of 84:

Aug 22 16:54 UTC 1997

  Maybe they have their reasons but the Ann Arbor branch of the Humane
  Society has never failed to be rude and unhelpful to me, leaving me
  with a very negative view of them.  Perhaps they're very focused on
  their work or something but contrasting them with the very kind and
  helpful bird rescue people it seems like they don't *have* to be that
  obnoxious..

  For an organization that relies on charitable donations for a large 
  part of its funding it puzzles me that they seem so uninterested in
  creating a positive impression.

  Valerie, for what you want it's probably appropriate to call the city
  government's animal control division and ask them to handle it or ask
  your landlord to address the problem.

response 5 of 84:

Aug 22 20:01 UTC 1997

I don't know about catching them... But I'm *really* unhappy with the
Washtenaw County Humane Society.  My roomate just got a cat there, and
they claimed he was perfectly healthy.  Well, he wasn't.  He had
massive ear infections (they claimed his ears were clean.).  So, I would
see if there is anyone else you could contact/give the cats to.

response 7 of 84:

Aug 23 01:49 UTC 1997

Valerie, one thing I can suggest is to take the kittens before they get 
too old.  If you get them while the mammas are away and before they're 
old enough to run very far from the nest, you need only a clean 
fabric lined box, some leather gloves (they may be babies, but they are 
feral) and some soft cat food.  (Fish is best for this.)  
1)Put the food in a saucer in the box
2)Move it close to the nest.  
3)Pick the kittens up one at a time and put them near the saucer.  
They'll probably be too young to know how to eat well, but it will keep 
them curious.

If you have trouble getting one of the kits, pick up one of the kits 
that has managed to get covered in food and put it back in the nest.  
While the aggresive one is investigating the food smell all over it's 
sibling, pick it up and plop it next to the saucer and amongst it's 
quieter sibs.  Then in goes that last one.

I've used this method several times and it's been pretty effective, but 
have someone on the lookout for Mom and move away from the nest as soon 
as she shows up.  (Leave the food behind - especially if there are any 
kits left -- she'll probably move them anyway, but if she's not totally 
feral it'll make her easier to catch.)

response 9 of 84:

Aug 23 04:14 UTC 1997

The local Humane Society showed up at my door several weeks ago and asked to
see my cats.  I declined.  She asked why not.  I said they were my cats, and
of no concern to her.  She said that they had the right to inspect my animals
at any time, and that the neighbors had complained that my cats were in poor
health, and covered with sores.

My cats *never* go out.  My neighbors have never visited the house.  I told
the "lady" that she would not get to see my cats without a search warrant.
She said she would come back with one.  At this point, Pong and Ch'ueh came
to the door and stood up against it to look out.

"Oh," she said, "they look fine."

"I *told* you they were fine," I replied.  "Now who filed the report?"

"I can't tell you that," she demurred.

"You invade the sanctity of *my* home, demanding to see *my* cats, and
threaten to bring a search warrant against me over what is *patently* a false
report, and you won't tell me who filed it?"  I was full of righteous wrath.

"No, sir," the bimbo replies.  "The law forbids us from disclosing that
information."

Never again will I do anything to help that wretched organization; in fact,
anything I can do to destroy it, I will.  They have become fascistic.

response 13 of 84:

Aug 24 05:34 UTC 1997

  I don't buy the "just doing her job" excuse.  If her job really involves
  trying to force her way into people's homes based on anonymous complaints
  and threatening to use the powers of the state to compel their cooperation
  then maybe she shouldn't be doing it (maybe *nobody* should be doing it..)
  That's a pretty scary story.

response 15 of 84:

Aug 24 19:24 UTC 1997

There is always nastiness when neighbors butt into other neighbors business,
whether or not justified. I would put the visit from the Hunmane Society 
into the category of some of that nastiness. Consider who started the whole
thing - an uninformed neighbor. At least it wasn't the *police* at your door.

response 17 of 84:

Aug 24 22:08 UTC 1997

How did you determine that she was 18 yrs old and a bimbo?

response 19 of 84:

Aug 25 03:52 UTC 1997

Wonder if the Humane Society had been male, would they still have been a bimbo?

Anyhoo, I hardly consider my cat my "property". He's a living creature that I
pledged to take care of and nuture, not just acquire. He has emotions,
personality, needs and feels pain. If I were neglecting him, then I'd hope
someone with a conscience would see that and take action IF IT IS WARRANTED.
This "property" mentality, which seems pretty often applied to animals, kids
and spouses, scares the hell out of me.

response 21 of 84:

Aug 25 05:27 UTC 1997

Re #16: I would not take offense if a private individual came to me
to inform me that a neighbor had made a complaint of some sort against me.
In fact, I would be very appreciative, so the issue could be addressed
and not allowed to become further inflated. I hardly equate attempts at
conciliation to be equivalent to Nazis.

Something similar to this happened to us recently. Our grass cutting
company had been cutting across a neighbor's yard for years, with their
permission, to reach our yard. Then they moved. The new people objected
but no one came to us - they complained to the cutting company - who
also neglected to tell us. I would *much* rather have had the neighbor,
or someone that knew the neighbors wishes, to have come to us directly.
(It got worse, because the cutting company then broke down one of our
fences and damaged shrubery to get into our yuard to cut it, still without
approaching us...then we *did* get angry!).

response 23 of 84:

Aug 25 15:11 UTC 1997

Re Charles' experience:  It sounds unpleasant, but what real harm was done?
Your cats were ok, the woman went away, and that's the end of it.  You *might*
have been some sicko who tortures cats and would burn your neighbor's house
down if you found out who reported it.  There *are* such people, which is the
reason the humane society does these checks, and if that had been the case,
the woman probably acted more or less properly.  Maybe she wasn't particularly
sensible or polite.  Thank goodness she wasn't a government official, or
Jemmie would start ranting about getting government off our backs.

There is a sort of syndrome with people in positions of power...it *is* very
prevalent amongst government servants, I agree, Jemmie...in which they tend
to view everyone as a potential enemy.  Cops do this, for understandable
reasons.  I've been stopped a few times by police officers who talk tough and
throw me around a little, and it would make them look real studly if they were
in fact busting a bad guy, as they hope and believe they are.  It pisses me
off considerably, and I always feel they should just be polite and friendly,
and if it turns out they were accidentally polite to a bad guy they can still
arrest him, after all, and they'd have lower blood pressure.  Your humane
society woman should take the same advice.  It would be great to have
intelligent thoughtful cops and humane society people, etc, but failing that,
I'm still glad to have a police force and humane society around.

How are your stray cats doing, Valerie?  Friend of mine was trying to catch
a nusiance raccoon--they said use tuna catfood for bait in the Havahart, and
she caught every cat in the neigborhood.