Cat injuried by barbed wire on garden wall

Ziycon

My cat was injuried some time between last night and this morning and it looks very likely to be due to a neighbours barbed wire which they put up a month or so ago. Cat needs stiches, has an inch cut on its belly and cut to one leg.

I was wondering who I could ring to find out if it's legal to have barbed wire on a residental garden wall and if they can be held liable for injury to pets as with cats you can't tell them where to or not to go.

Would the community gardas be the people to talk about the legalities around barbed wire on a garden wall or DSPCA?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Aru

I would be genuinely concerned about your cat's future welfare if the neighbours are putting up barbed wire on their fences to try and keep cats out of their garden...Its not something people do lightly.

The next step is usually poison.

Maybe reconsider letting the cat roam free for a while-not that they will be out and about anyway with stitches(poor cat ). and talk to your neighbour and see if its an issue you can solve.

As for your original question. Judging from comments on other sites about reporting razorwire and barbed wire use in a urban back garden the Gardai say it is not illegal but advised talk to the local council.

I would be more worried about how far they are going to go to keep the cat out of their garden though.
Do ye have a lot of cats in the area?
prikka spikes might be a good compromise..they discourage cats as they are uncomfortable but will not do serious harm if a cat fell on them for example

zagmund

Why would it be illegal?

z

the beer revolu

Aru wrote: »

I would be genuinely concerned about your cat's future welfare if the neighbours are putting up barbed wire on their fences to try and keep cats out of their garden...Its not something people do lightly.

The next step is usually poison.

Maybe reconsider letting the cat roam free for a while-not that they will be out and about anyway with stitches(poor cat ). and talk to your neighbour and see if its an issue you can solve.

As for your original question. Judging from comments on other sites about reporting razorwire and barbed wire use in a urban back garden the Gardai say it is not illegal but advised talk to the local council.

I would be more worried about how far they are going to go to keep the cat out of their garden though.
Do ye have a lot of cats in the area?
prikka spikes might be a good compromise..they discourage cats as they are uncomfortable but will not do serious harm if a cat feel on them for example

There is nothing in the OP to suggest that the reason for the barbed wire is to exclude cats.

Aru

It is illegal in the UK to use barbed wire on low residential walls as they can injure Trespassers..... but putting a sign up apparently makes it ok if the wall is not on a public throughfare.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Have you tried talking to your neighbour?

Unfortunately we have a neighbours cat who keeps doing their business in our garden. We've tried all sorts to keep the cat away as we have a very young child. Barbed wire is a bit much though. We've talked to the neighbours but it's the usual "what do you want us to do about it".

Aru

the beer revolu wrote: »

There is nothing in the OP to suggest that the reason for the barbed wire is to exclude cats.

Thats true...except the fact he is blaming his cats injury on the barbed wire.which means he suspects the cat was in the neighbours garden/on the fence

...to be fair I agree barbed wire wouldn't really deter cats very well anyway-cats can work around them fairly easily in most cases.LIttle ninjas that they are but if that is the reason the neighbour put it up and not security then its something to be concerned about and worth talking to the neighbour about...rather than just going to council or gaurds..when they realise its not working I would worry about what the next step will be if its a cat related fence..

ScouseMouse

I also have trouble with wandering cats triggering my light sensors. Can you suggest a way other than barbed wire, to stop them?

If you could offer an alternative to the wire, they could maybe take it down?

Ziycon

Not the type of neighbours you can really talk to, front gate is locked so can't even knock in to talk to them. There are tons of cats in the area, pets and strays, they have dogs also so the cats tend to stay out.

ScouseMouse

If the cats are going into private property, and are unwanted, what else could the owners do? I got slapped down on this forum way back when I had this problem.

Its now back the last few weeks and am looking for a solution.

Ziycon

ScouseMouse wrote: »

If the cats are going into private property, and are unwanted, what else could the owners do? I got slapped down on this forum way back when I had this problem.

Its now back the last few weeks and am looking for a solution.

It doesn't warrant putting up something that is going to seriously injure or kill them, that's if the barbed wire was even put up to stop cats, that's an assumption people are making, it could be a case they put it up for other reasons.

Knine

There is not much you can do unfortunately & if you allow pets to wander there is a good chance they may come back injured or not at all.

I reckon the barbed wire is more likely there to prevent human intruders then cats.

I hope your cat gets better soon.

Ziycon

Knine wrote: »

There is not much you can do unfortunately & if you allow pets to wander there is a good chance they may come back injured or not at all.

I reckon the barbed wire is more likely there to prevent human intruders then cats.

I hope your cat gets better soon.

I understand and appreciate cats will wonder and do get up to mischief, was hoping there was something I could do regarding the barbed wire as if it was for cats I just think it's a bit over the top, their dogs should be more then enough to stop cats going in their garden.

FelineOverLord

ScouseMouse wrote: »

I also have trouble with wandering cats triggering my light sensors. Can you suggest a way other than barbed wire, to stop them?

If you could offer an alternative to the wire, they could maybe take it down?

Motion activated sprinklers. Only a psycho would put barbed wire up.

mrcheez

FelineOverLord wrote: »

Motion activated sprinklers.

These are a good solution, but you must not expect the neighbour to pay for them, offer to buy them on their behalf.

FelineOverLord

mrcheez wrote: »

These are a good solution, but you must not expect the neighbour to pay for them, offer to buy them on their behalf.

I agree.:)

Nody

Ziycon wrote: »

I understand and appreciate cats will wonder and do get up to mischief, was hoping there was something I could do regarding the barbed wire as if it was for cats I just think it's a bit over the top, their dogs should be more then enough to stop cats going in their garden.

Ask your neighbour for permission to put up a net angled like the below. This will stop them from jumping up there in the first place (the tilt inwards is the important part of the design) while not being strong enough to give purchase to a <insert stereotype that require a barbed wire fence to keep out>.

Ziycon

Would this not fall under Class 5 Part 3 of the Exempted Development in planning and development regulations.

No such structure shall be a metal palisade or other security fence

It could be argued that even though it's not a fence it's security aspect(barbed wire) is still present!?

Full regulations:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/DevelopmentandHousing/Planning/FileDownLoad,32878,en.pdf

Dubl07

Nody wrote: »

Ask your neighbour for permission to put up a net angled like the below. This will stop them from jumping up there in the first place (the tilt inwards is the important part of the design) while not being strong enough to give purchase to a <insert stereotype that require a barbed wire fence to keep out>.

That's designed to keep a cat in a garden, not out of one. If the neighbour with dogs puts up something like that, any visiting cat will be trapped and in trouble. It's perhaps a solution for the OP to use in his own garden.

Nody

Dubl07 wrote: »

That's designed to keep a cat in a garden, not out of one. If the neighbour with dogs puts up something like that, any visiting cat will be trapped and in trouble. It's perhaps a solution for the OP to use in his own garden.

And it works just as well to keep cats OUT of the garden by putting it on the outside of their neighbors wall tilted out from the wall. If the cats can't get up to the top with barbwire the problem is solved as well.

Triangla

I used to bang the rear window in my garden at cats to get rid of them until one day a few weeks ago I asked myself what the hell was I doing.

Now if I see a cat I let it work away. It's in and out in no time. It was just pure instinct banging the window.

Birds land and ****e all over the garden, rats and other vermin no doubt also come and go that I no doubt never see.

Not sure what trouble a cat passing through will cause.

Nody

Triangla wrote: »

Not sure what trouble a cat passing through will cause.

Not much in general but as OPs neighbor has barbwire on the top of the fence and OPs cats are getting wounded which is why something needs to be done.

aaakev

Nody wrote: »

Ask your neighbour for permission to put up a net angled like the below. This will stop them from jumping up there in the first place (the tilt inwards is the important part of the design) while not being strong enough to give purchase to a <insert stereotype that require a barbed wire fence to keep out>.

That fence is a great job!

Triangla wrote: »

I used to bang the rear window in my garden at cats to get rid of them until one day a few weeks ago I asked myself what the hell was I doing.

Now if I see a cat I let it work away. It's in and out in no time. It was just pure instinct banging the window.

Birds land and ****e all over the garden, rats and other vermin no doubt also come and go that I no doubt never see.

Not sure what trouble a cat passing through will cause.

Passing through is one thing but if they decide to start using your garden as a toilet its a problem especially if you have flower beds, pots or a veg patch and more so if you have kids that help in them

mrcheez

Dubl07 wrote: »

That's designed to keep a cat in a garden, not out of one. If the neighbour with dogs puts up something like that, any visiting cat will be trapped and in trouble. It's perhaps a solution for the OP to use in his own garden.

I thought that the suggestion was to put this in the OP's garden, rather than asking the neighbour to put this up in their garden.

Can you imagine asking your neighbour to put something like this in their garden, losing space around the edges, catching leaves etc?

The cat is invading the neighbours space, so it's up to the OP to fix the problem and do everything possible to prevent the cat from accessing the neighbour's garden, not for the neighbour to defend against it.

It would actually be a perfect solution for the OP to put this in their own garden.

Ziycon

I appreciate all the feedback, just to reiterate the point, I never said that the cat was going into their garden or that the barded wire was to stop cats going into their garden the whole issue is the barded wire regardless of the reason they put it up.

The barded wire is on top of a boundary wall which cats walk across, doesn't necessarily mean they go into the garden. We never get cats in our garden due to a dog in the garden and the same I would suspect is true for the owner in question as they have two dogs.

Cows Go µ

If they have two dogs and cats keep walking across their fence, it would probably drive their dogs crazy. I know it would make mine go ballistic.

The way I see it, you let your cat roam. Anything that happens to it while wandering around unsupervised, you can't really complain about. It could be going into their garden all the time and using it as a toilet for all you know. It could be annoying their dogs. They have chosen to put up something in their garden, on their own property, to keep things out and if your cat chooses to walk on their fence then there's not much you can do about it.

Have you actually tried talking to them to ask why the barbed wire is there in the first place?

Ziycon

Cows Go µ wrote: »

If they have two dogs and cats keep walking across their fence, it would probably drive their dogs crazy. I know it would make mine go ballistic.

The way I see it, you let your cat roam. Anything that happens to it while wandering around unsupervised, you can't really complain about. It could be going into their garden all the time and using it as a toilet for all you know. It could be annoying their dogs. They have chosen to put up something in their garden, on their own property, to keep things out and if your cat chooses to walk on their fence then there's not much you can do about it.

Have you actually tried talking to them to ask why the barbed wire is there in the first place?

Not the type of neighbours that you can talk to and I've since found out that they require planning permission to put up barded wire on a boundary wall so I'll try discuss this with them or reach a compromise, if all else fails on to the planning authority (hopefully it doesn't get to this).

padraig.od

Ziycon wrote: »

Not the type of neighbours that you can talk to and I've since found out that they require planning permission to put up barded wire on a boundary wall so I'll try discuss this with them or reach a compromise, if all else fails on to the planning authority (hopefully it doesn't get to this).

Maybe you aren't the sort of neighbour that you can talk to and that is why they have gone to such extreme measures to keep your cat out of their garden? Why don't you take responsibility for your property and keep your cat in? You cat won't be injured and your neighbours won't be annoyed enough to put up barbed wire?

If they really are rough people, as you allege, then bringing the "planning authority" to their door certainly won't end well for your marauding cat.

Cows Go µ

padraig.od wrote: »

Maybe you aren't the sort of neighbour that you can talk to and that is why they have gone to such extreme measures to keep your cat out of their garden? Why don't you take responsibility for your property and keep your cat in? You cat won't be injured and your neighbours won't be annoyed enough to put up barbed wire?

If they really are rough people, as you allege, then bringing the "planning authority" to their door certainly won't end well for your marauding cat.

In fairness, we don't know that the barbed wire was put up specifically to keep the OPs cat out as the neighbours have never been spoken to. However there are few other reasons to put barbed wire up and the OP has said that there are lots of cats in the area so it's likely to be the reason. Plus if the cat got injured on the barbed wire, obviously the OP's cat does venture at least to the fence of the neighbours garden if not further. If the OP also has dogs, the cat is likely not to be afraid of dogs as much so more likely to venture into the garden in comparison to most cats.

Also, I agree if the neighbours are intimidating enough that you don't want to talk to them, I would be terrified if they found out you were the one reporting them. Especially if they actually did get planning permission already

FelineOverLord

padraig.od wrote: »

Maybe you aren't the sort of neighbour that you can talk to and that is why they have gone to such extreme measures to keep your cat out of their garden? Why don't you take responsibility for your property and keep your cat in? You cat won't be injured and your neighbours won't be annoyed enough to put up barbed wire?

If they really are rough people, as you allege, then bringing the "planning authority" to their door certainly won't end well for your marauding cat.

Jesus, over-reaction much.:rolleyes: We don't know why they put the barbed wire up, it could be that they are scumbags who are worried about other scumbags sneaking over their wall, they might just be nutjobs. Normal people do not put barbed wire on their walls and it may have nothing at all to do with cats.

Ziycon

You'll just have to take my word that these neighbours can't be talked to, I'm going to try anyway like I said, I'm not going to go into details or incidents/situations that have happened, not with me but other neighbours in case anyone recognises them.

From my point of view the barded wire wasn't put up due to cats, it was put up for other reasons which I said I wont go into as it's not my place.

My whole point/question was there anything I can do to remedy or work around the situation which many people have added some creative ideas and suggestions.

@padraig.od, I can understand why people get fed up of using boards, due to user like yourself coming on and having a go at other users, just because I don't go into details on every little aspect doesn't mean there isn't more aspects to consider, If this was the case and I was asking how to 'get back' at the neighbour or 'how can I piss them off' due to putting up barded wire to injury my cat and others them I might put more details.

At the end of the day there is nothing to suggest the barded wire was due to cats, I never said it was either, I was looking for opinions, help and suggestions which I have gotten from some, with that I'm going to leave it at that, seriously not worth asking for help on boards.ie sometimes!

Pac2015

Keenan Helpless Tomato wrote: »

Have you tried talking to your neighbour?

Unfortunately we have a neighbours cat who keeps doing their business in our garden. We've tried all sorts to keep the cat away as we have a very young child. Barbed wire is a bit much though. We've talked to the neighbours but it's the usual "what do you want us to do about it".

Cats are marking their territory when doing that in your garden I have 7 cats and am very conscious of my cats fowling my neighbours gardens so I have a litter tray / house in my shed and also 3 in the house which are cleaned all the time so the cats want to use them.
There is a spray in Woodies non toxic that you can get it smells like garlic to the cats and is non harmful they don't like it, plus the likes of pepper or vinegar should out them off.

DBB

Closed pending review

DBB

padraig.od wrote: »

Maybe you aren't the sort of neighbour that you can talk to ...

... then bringing the "planning authority" to their door certainly won't end well for your marauding cat.

Mod Note
Please refrain from whipping up arguments with other posters, and using incendiary language such as referring to the OP's pet as "marauding"... People are perfectly welcome to make their points, but there is absolutely no need for the tone you took with the OP in this post, and it simply is not permitted for posters to address one another in a disrespectful way.
Do not reply to this post on thread.

Ziycon wrote: »

I was looking for opinions, help and suggestions which I have gotten from some, with that I'm going to leave it at that, seriously not worth asking for help on boards.ie sometimes!

Most of the suggestions you got were helpful or constructive I think? Don't let the behaviour of one poster put you off!

That said, I think this thread has gone as far as it's going to go, so I will keep it closed.
Good luck OP, I hope you reach an acceptable resolution. If you want to update this thread at some stage in the future, PM one of the mods to arrange it.
Thanks,
DBB