Banished! Please, Do Not Call Me Again

Local Lake From David's Property
©2010 PK Hawk

I recently banished someone from my life. It was David, the man who has all the stray cats that are constantly getting eaten by coyotes and owls. I have written about him and this situation before. I told David about three months ago that I no longer wished to speak with him, as he was only a source of major stress in my life. He asked me for my suggestions, and yet, very seldom if ever took the advice. David had never had cats in his life, until about five or six years ago, so it's not as if he really knew much about cats needs, illnesses, or pretty much anything other than they eat cat food, and go to the bathroom, and have kittens. 

©2010 PK Hawk

After I told him that I no longer wished to have communication with him, David waited a few days, and called me again. I told him again I no longer wished to have any contact, and to please not call me again. His conversations would start out about his investments, which are all tanking, yet he can't see the value of saving what he has left, selling his deceased mother's condo, which would save him three hundred dollars a month in homeowner fees alone. He is supporting two homes, shorting his own health, and quality of food, all to hang on to a second home, just in case the home he lives in goes up in smoke. He has lived in that home for forty years, and there has never been a wildfire close enough to even threaten his place. 


Once he gets what he considers a conversation going, he starts talking about some other strange cat that came into his home, and carried off a kitten which he has been bottle raising, as their mother was killed. Another cat had a little of kittens under his sofa, which he could hear, but had never seen. Once he put something heavy on top of the box containing the litter he was feeding, that same cat came in again, and killed all the kittens from the second litter. 

Stray Cat
©PK Hawk

It is so upsetting to me, as I have offered to get homes for many of these kittens over the past almost four years, only to have him question why I wanted to take the ones that looked part Siamese, instead of the tabby kittens. I explained that the colorful kittens would be the ones that were most likely to be killed, as their colors made them harder to conceal in bushes, etc. I had two different rescue groups that would have taken in the colorful kittens, and they were just the right age to get altered, and would have been adopted very quickly. 


When he asked for advice, he very seldom listened to what I told him needed to be done, and the poor cats paid the consequences. After the county actually paid for about thirty cats getting spayed or neutered, as well as driving them back and forth to the vet, returning them to David at his home, there were still three or four kittens that were too young to have surgery. David promised to follow through, and get them done as soon as they were old enough. Well, he did not follow through, and they began producing more kittens which were eventually killed, and eaten. Just enough survived to produce more kittens, and pass on an upper respiratory illness, that caused several of them to lose sight in at least one eye. 

Happy Loved Cat
©2010 PK Hawk

In any case, I have told him over and over that I no longer wish to have contact with him, and yet, for more than two months, he continued calling. Even when I did not return his calls, he would say things trying to get me to return his call. 

Finally, about two weeks ago, I called local law enforcement about the situation. They sent an officer to my home.  After I explained the situation to him, he agreed to make a personal call on David, to tell him that I was very serious about cutting off all contact, and that if he calls again, I will press charges of harassment against him.  If David knew where I moved to, he would still be stopping by, and acting as if everything were fine, and that since I am female, I must be having a hormonal issue, or that if he waited long enough, I would forget about it. 


He should know me well enough by now, to know that I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. I have said I no longer wish to talk with him, and I meant it. Since it's been almost two weeks since he last called, I think he realized that when I called the local law enforcement, he had better listen. 

Loved Kitten

When I first began helping him, he had some thirty cats, which were all strays, which needed to be spayed and neutered, as they were reproducing as cats will. This was upsetting to his neighbors, as they were concerned for their safety. They were also disgusted that so many cats were using their planters for their litter box. Someone eventually reported him to animal control, who had begun trapping and destroying the cats.


Someone gave David my phone number, as a pet rescuer.  I had stopped taking in pets for adoption, but I still did referrals to legitimate no kill rescuers, with a warning about "fake rescuers," who pretend to rescue and adopt, but who kill every animal they take in.


David was crying, as he had been left traps by animal control, and was told that he had to catch all the cats, which would be picked up by animal control, and since all the cats were feral, or semi-feral strays, they would be destroyed, as they were not adoptable.

Happy and Safe Kitten
©2010 PK Hawk

What else could I do?  I called the County Supervisor's office, and told them about this man's problem, and that I was also concerned about his age, and health being seriously affected.  The County Supervisor's Secretary contacted Animal Control for the county, and they worked out the plan to get the cats fixed, and returned at no charge to this retired older man.  He had lived in the same home for nearly forty years, and had never been a problem, paid his taxes, and certainly deserved some cooperation from the county.


I have certainly done all I can, and it is now out of my hands.  I don't need all the stress I suffer worrying about something over which I have absolutely no control, nor will this person cooperate getting his remaining cats spayed or neutered.  Poor little kittens are being born to become coyote bait, when they could have been adopted to safe, caring homes, to people who would and could cover vet bills to have them desexed, vaccinated, and well fed, in a home safe from predators.


NOTE: I think I failed to point out that the man no longer has 30 plus cats, as all of the original ones were already killed by coyotes and owls.  I have no power to do anything which he does not agree to, as at this point, the number is within the legal limit of nine cats.   He just will not alter the remaining cats, and they come and go as they please.  He does provide food for them, but he really can no longer afford to feed increasing numbers when they are allowed to continue producing more kittens. 


I am sixty-six years old, and disabled, not being able to work for more than twenty years.  I too, live on Social Security.  I have three dogs, and one cat, all have been spayed or neutered.  While I no longer take in animals in need of being placed in new homes, I do refer people who call me to other legitimate rescuers, who are still able to help in such situations.