www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

I think the main point has been missed and that is that this old cat was loved and is missed and the old couple wanted to have something to remember it by. Many people love their pets and when the animals die it is like losing a member of the family. Often these animals are the only company that some people have and whilst all cats might kill at some point in their life they usually become lazy and quite happy to spend their days dozing, being well fed and petted.

The bird population has been damaged more by the hedgerow removal by farmers over the years than cats.

DWD

Succinctly put DWD

My neighbours cat died a few years back, they were going to bury it in the garden and were advised to go about 6 ft deep and put paving slabs over the top to stop other animals digging it up/etc.

I didn't realize they wanted to go so deep when i took over, i was standing in a tiny square hole nearly up to armpit height, no room to shovel anything out. Convinced them this was plenty.

People love their animals.

At least with a cat you can play the bagpipes on them.

Stick it under your arm, tail in your mouth.

Bite the tail while squeezing the cat, sounds very much like bagpipes, Meow.

Very a-meow-sing to read

How do you get two bagpipe players to play in tune?















kill one of them.

Our disagreement lies with what we perceive to be 'natural'.
Domestic dogs and cats are looked after by humans, they aren't wild native creatures. Dogs, are not allowed out unattended to roam around other peoples property, killing things and crapping everywhere. Thats illegal. But most cats are. You know as well as I that the dogs responsible for the majority of attacks on people and other animals, are the 'dickheads dogs'....It doesn't take a genius to match which breeds are favoured by certain types of person. Those breeds have rightly been banned (or will soon be), and the dickhead owners should continue to be banged up. Its a tired old cliche.
We should be looking after our wildlife as they are under all sorts of threats and challenges to their survival.
The cats that kill my garden birds don't eat them - why would they? Their bellies are already full of supermarket GoCat.....and also Inky Pete, I've seen the cats climbing up into the conifers to kill the young - they don't wait for them to fall from the nest 'where they would die anyway'....and yes, crows, magpies, rats etc take young songbirds too - for food - but humans don't look after those. Thats nature.

A dog is the responsibility of the owner - LEGALLY. A cat is designated a 'wild animal' and has no legal status/standing - it therefore IS a wild creature and subject to natural hunting instincts.

It's not just 'devil dogs' that kill kids either. Many of the smaller 'handbag' breeds are nortoriously bad tempered and vicious. And besides, as I already mentioned, it's the OWNERS fault they attack (or that they were left alone with kids), not necessarily the dogs fault.

Regardless of whether humans 'look after cats' they are still wild animals and you can't blame them for what they do.

There is no such thing as I bad dog just bad dog owners if you treat a dog like a pack animal they learn the place in the pack

And cats are a hunter always have been an always will be its called survival if the fittest

My cats kill squirrels for fun - which round here means greys - and they're also pretty good at rats.

Grey squirrels are imported vermin which raid birds nests for eggs and regularly kill young birds. Rats do the same as well. It's not often a decent sized cat can get far enough out on a branch to raid a nest, but squirrels and rats do it all the time. So actually by killing squirrels and rats, my cats are responsible for saving the lives of hundreds more baby birds than they'll ever kill themselves!

Seeing as you have such strong opinions against cats, I assume that once you realised what the flowerbed was for, you destroyed the said memorial and gave them their £1,000 back on principle?

I can assure you that cats kill and control vermin in far greater numbers than they do song birds. In fact in 11 years my 2 have never bought songbirds home, yet plenty of mice, rats, pigeons even a few seagulls (one cat is built more like a dog) and it's carcases i'm normally disposing of not bodies (although seagulls are largely intact to be fair).

Truth be told I don't like them killing and if I can save the poor buggers I will but just accept it is their natural instint and all part of the eco system.

When I was young in London we use to sell them to the chinkys

If this was up for a vote I would vote cat and I have both birds and my cats in my garden. My garden is full of nests all constructed by myself, as a whole now and again they do bring home birds for me (present for me feeding them), but the ground vermin they bring FFS they make me proud

Picking up on Kelly's point I would say that cats are wild but they are clever enough to present a loveable alter ego to humans that allows them to inveigle their way into our affections and homes. As soon as a cat steps outside this persona is lost and it reverts to feral mode. However, many cats lose this ability to revert and become soppy house cats that cannot be arsed to put the effort in to hunt. You never own a cat, they just share your home. take the best seat, do as they please and will scratch you if you annoy them....a bit like women really

DWD

So, in essence as a memorial to their dead cat they've built a huge cat-litter tray ........