If you’re the owner of chickens and you recently discovered that a neighbor’s cat killed one of your chickens, you are likely very angry. You might be wondering: how the neighbor’s cat killed my chicken?
You certainly have the right to be angry, but now you must focus on trying to prevent the neighbor’s cat from killing more of your chickens in the future.
You are likely to want to get to the bottom of how the neighbor’s cat was able to kill your chicken, since the animal obviously wasn’t allowed to roam around in your garden. Cats are natural born killers and will kill vulnerable animals just for the fun of it.
Despite this fact, you should be able to have chickens without the danger of neighborhood animals preying on them.
Dangerous animals shouldn’t be allowed to roam around on other people’s property, but unfortunately, without taking special measures, it’s impossible to control where an animal goes and what activities it participates in.
Before you take any further steps, you will want to verify that the neighbor’s cat killed my chicken before approaching the neighbor and making any accusations. However, if you actually caught the cat in action, then you already know it for a fact.
However, the neighbor could still deny that their cat was the culprit, unless you were somehow lucky enough to catch the incident on video. If you don’t have cameras in your garden, it’s certainly something you want to consider installing in the future.
What to Do if My Neighbour’s Cat Killed My Chicken?
There are several different actions you could take if your neighbor’s cat killed your chicken. First of all, you can speak with your neighbor to inform them of what has happened.
The neighbor likely had no idea that their cat was even in your garden, let alone that it killed your chicken. You don’t want to be confrontational and angry when you speak with your neighbor, because you want the absolute best outcome.
You want your neighbor to at the very least pay to replace your chicken, if not compensate you for your trouble. This is more likely to happen if you’re calm when you speak with your neighbor as opposed to yelling at them.
Even if you approach your neighbor in a calm manner, they could still either deny that their cat killed your chicken, or they could become hostile and demand that you leave their home.
You will undoubtedly become even angrier because you might feel as if you’ve been violated. This is certainly a violation of your rights to keep your garden intact and your animals safe.
If you’re not happy with your neighbor’s response, another option is to take your neighbor to court. You will likely not be able to sue for much, but if you want your neighbor to know that you’re not going to accept this happening again, they should certainly get the message.
Hopefully, you will have a way of proving that the cat killed your chicken, which will increase your chances of winning.
Is the Law on My Side if The Neighbours Cat Killed My Chicken?
While the law states that you have the right to have a garden that is safe for your chickens and safe from any type of destruction, cats, unfortunately, have many rights, too.
In fact, these laws for cats seemingly supersede those of homeowners’ gardens. You can call law enforcement out to your home so you can file a report, but really, there is not much they can do.
Law enforcement might recommend that you install a tall fence or invest in some other type of protection to keep cats and other possible predators from having access to your chickens. The fact that you don’t appear to have many legal rights may be very frustrating for you.
Your frustration is certainly understandable, but just make sure you don’t allow law enforcement to minimize the situation or make you feel as if what happened was your fault, because it wasn’t.
You could try contacting an attorney to discuss your options, but most attorneys will likely refuse to take such a seemingly trivial case.
It would be different if your neighbor killed your chicken, but since it was a cat that attacked and killed the chicken, unfortunately, most attorneys won’t take you seriously.
However, there are ways for you to decrease the chances of this happening again in the future, so your chickens and any other animals can remain safe.
How to Stop Your Neighbour’s Cat from Killing Your Chickens in The Future!
You may feel like trapping your neighbor’s cat and taking it to the Humane Society, and maybe even poisoning it if you’re unable to get the owner of the cat to face the responsibility for their cat’s actions.
Even though you may feel this way, you should refrain from retaliating in such a manner because you could end up getting arrested.
Your neighbor could have you charged with kidnapping of a cat, or even murder, if you opted to poison it, so you need to find a more suitable solution.
Instead of responding in a retaliatory manner, there are some other, more positive ways to keep your chickens safe from your neighbor’s cat or any other predator.
There are foxes, other cats, and even dogs that could get into your garden and possibly kill your chickens.
To prevent any of these predators from attacking your chickens again, you can install a special covered and enclosed chicken run that keeps your chickens safe and secure, but without limiting their ability to roam freely.
Roosters can also protect your chickens from certain predators, or at least scare them away, so having two or more roosters is a great way to ward off predators.
You can also find safe ways to repel predators, especially cats, such as a spray that contains ingredients that cats dislike.
While it may seem unfair for you to have to invest money in keeping your chickens safe from your neighbor’s cat, you will be happy you made the investment in the long run.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is very understandable that you’re angry that your neighbours cat killed my chicken. If you handle the situation calmly, without doing anything rash that you might later regret, you can resolve the situation so it won’t happen again in the future. You will likely have to invest a bit of money in order to ensure your chickens aren’t attacked again, but hopefully, you’ll realize that it will be very well worth the effort.
