Calling Here Puss to a Cat in the Street May Become a Criminal Offence
In the News
With so much crime going on in the country i am glad the powers that be have got their priorities right , yet again
There is now a proposed law, supported by the Government, that would make abducting a cat or dog punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine or both
So calling here puss or here boy to a stray or someones cat or dog could be viewed as abduction and put you in already overcrowded prison
I can see it now , the prisons will be so overcrowded with cat and dog nappers that they will have to give early release to car thieves, drug addicts , rapists etc etc to make way for these criminals
I know the law is really for the criminals that steal pets from peoples homes , especially pedigree animals that they sell on for profit, but there will be so many variations of what is perceived as a crime here that it could clog up the legal system
And yet again it will be the affluent lawyers that make even more money out of prosecutions and defence
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/13/coaxing-cats-crime-pet-abduction-bill/
Honestly it's to be aimed at those that purposely steal the animal not those that take in what they think is a stray
Jerseydrew Yes thats true J, they just need to make the law specific , sometimes for example a cat may wonder into your house and stop for a day or two would that be classed as abduction by the owner ?
Oh boy.I am in serious trouble.I know every cat on the block.I don't have to abduct them.They cross the street and even let me pick em up.Three cats visit me on my allotment and local owners hunt me down as/when/if their cat goes missing in case they are on site.I will be going down for a long time if this takes off cos I can't resist befriending moggies. 
telmel Millie the moocher.
Only today I spoke to and petted a dog outside the shop .He was so handsome!Later on today I was waiting for a bus by the common and a dog got on the bus by himself.He was ushered off because he didn't belong to anyone. Seems he was out with a jogger and had abandoned post!
MelissaLee1 I thought you were going to say he had to get off because he didn't have a ticket M
This is the best example of the press twisting words etc as per my previous chat topic about press and newspapers.
These are NOT my cats but they CHOSE to come on my patio & garden,we don't know who they belong to we have nicknames for all three..The stripey one is tripey the stripey because she has three legsl!
One of the black & white ones we call Banksy after Sheffield's famous son Gordon Banks the England Goalkeeper
Thee other black & white one we call Mr Biscuits as he runs to our door as soon as we open it to feed our cats or let them out so we give him a few Cat Biscuits..
We better stop letting them come to call for our two cats & to see us, don't want to be accused of catnapping!!
janphoenix51 When you mentioned Banksy M i thought graffiti J, now that would be one valuable cat 
janphoenix51 Your garden looks lovely. No wonder those cats like visiting it. My garden and hedges are overgrown. But I wouldn't feed stray animals if they come into mine.
jam45 ,Next door's garden is overgrown, empty for almost 9 years,lovely cat loving lady lived there,her daughter bought it as an investment for her 2 children the year before her Mum died. It's ex council house so big discount as her Mum lived in it since the daughter & her two brothers were small..
Daughter ,Son in law & their 2 children live in a massive 6 bedroom house in the leafier part of Sheffield, house is worth £750 000 so the house next to our's is empty & left to rot..Fence down,gate rotted away,garden overgrown, hedges about 8 foot & really bushy .
Daughter doesn't work now & Son In Law is retired,both in their late 50's,they don't need to work.
They check on the house a few times a year,pay gardeners 2 or 3 times a year..All gardening rubbish left in black bags near bins,has been there months!
Daughter told my friend who's children went to Private School with her's that the house is in Probate..
I just wish something was done with it,we are fed up with the state of the garden especially since anyone can enter it as fences are all broken down..
My mother ended up with two cats that were pretty much abandoned or abused by their original families. She didn't want to take them in but they were in rough state so as they were getting thin and looking ill she started feeding them. Casper was simply abandoned and unfed so ended up at my mother's house but she is always very reluctant to start feeding other people's cats. Arnie was from what I understand maltreated by the children where he was so kept away from his original home. He was a very laid back cat generally but I guess if maltreated would strike back. Anyway the neighbour of the family had stated what was happening.
I would be the same I don't want to see any cats starve to death and die. My mother took in a cat that was in unbelievably bad condition, a very old blind female cat, she did her best for it but in the end just had to pay for a compassionate termination of its life. The charities would not deal with the cat at the time, she contacted RSPCA and Cats protection league. I assume someone abandoned it because of illness but at least at the end of its life it had as much compassion as possible but sadly a very short time of compassion.
I strongly believe in trying to do the best for animals that are around where you live, in your sphere of influence. Cats are opportunists and some will pester as many people as possible to get food but you can clearly see those are healthy well fed cats and shouldn't be confused with cats that are clearly losing weight and of poor health due to starvation.
In theory then my mother is a potential criminal under the new laws and could have been accused of cat abduction in the past.
BonzoBanana Lets hope this new law doesn't cause people to stop helping strays B that would be tragic this is why they need to draft it correctly
BonzoBanana God bless your mum.St Francis and St Gertrude would have stood her case. 
BonzoBanana I don't believe your mother had to pay for a cat's termination. I wouldn't. It's so shocking none of these so-called animal/cat charities would do it free of charge (the termination). I always knew these so-called animal charities enjoys receiving donations given by the public or subscribers. It helps to pay for their fancy offices, cars, stationeries, excessive staff wages.
jam45 Well she phoned them and at the time they couldn't help, it wasn't an emergency and I guess they realised my mother was a bit softy and was taking care of it. She probably could have insisted more and got a result. As she ended up with the cat it became her responsibility and she therefore had to pay for the termination. It was a very sad time as the cat really pulled on the heart strings and looked like it had suffered so much but it feels better to know it had some kindness at the end with a more dignified ending.
I have seen peoples comments but I am on the other end. To explain, I have two healthy cats that come and go. But one of them decided to spend the whole night and next day away from home. I asked a neighbour if he had seen her. No. But found out he feeds other ‘stray cats’. Not all cats are strays but he is encouraging more cats to his garden. He has put a hole in his back fence, built a shelter and has a garage full of food. I wish people like him would go to the rescue centres and adopt their own cats. Not sure what happens if these cats need go to the vet, who will pay the bill?
eyeballkerry Good question E and a different slant on things
I can see where this might be a problem for cat owners
Firstly , if the cat goes missing for a day or so you dont know where they are, they could have been in an accident not on holiday with the neighbour
Also there is feeding, your cat may be allergic to certain foods and someone else could feed them things that can upset their stomachs or worse
Then there is the matter of fleas, your cat may be free of them but will that friendly neighbour be as vigilant and use clean bedding , and if they take in strays off the street there is more chance they will be infested and pass them on to your cat
I don’t have cats but neighbours cats are always preferring to be in my garden for some reason. I don’t particularly want them there. I do like cats though, my sister has acquired one from a death in family. There is one particularly friendly one which I give a little fuss. Wouldn’t dream of feeding them or keeping them though. Not only that I couldn’t afford to care for one.
As much as its well intentioned (and I agree that stealing pets is a crime) even if it does make it into law it will hardly ever be used against anyone, and our prisons are full to bursting point already so no one will get locked up for it anyway. This is more to get headlines than anything else
I think it needs to be before covid there was loads of break ins in my area trying to take peoples dogs
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