can i be held responsible for my cat scratching a car bonnet?

Question

my neighbour wants 1600 pounds off me for his car resprayed cause my cat scratched it and if i dont pay he will poison my cat

Answer 1

Yes there are leash laws but allso animal cruelty laws.

Answer 2

You cannot be held responsible for what your cat does. You cat may very well be thought of by you as a domesticated animal, but it is not a stock animal and it is not a dog. The house or demestic cat is not domesticated and lives the life of any other cat in nature.

My best advice to you is to go to the police and lodge a complaint against your neighbour.

If your cat is till young and adgile, there is little chance of him or anyone else catching your cat. The house cat can run at speeds of over 30 mph if it has to and it can climb a tree and be out of sight in seconds.

Cat = Diana the Huntress.

In Ancient Egypt any one harming a cat would be thrown naked to the crocodiles.

Pity we do not have that rule today.

Ra! Sun God of Egypt shine down upon you and all in your house, this day and for ever more.

My neighbour a British Druidess has already put a black curse upon your neighbour. Any more nonsense from him and he will be cast down into hell, there to vomit black worms for ten billion years.

How day he or any else threaten the life of a cat.

Answer 3

You can be held responsibly legally, if he can prove your cat scratched the hood. However, if your cat is responsible, 1600 pounds is a lot to just sand and re-paint one part. (I know that because I had to have parts of my car re-painted after hail damage.)
If your cat is responsible, you need to pay, but get an estimate from two or more repair shops you can both agree on. Do not go with just a figure the owner tells you.

In the U.S. at least, leash laws do apply to cats as well as dogs, so you need to keep your cat inside. I'm not sure about Britain, if that's where you're living.
But as you can see, too many bad things can happen to your cat outside, including him being harmed by bad people like your neighbor. You want your cat to not be hurt, so please keep him inside! He will still be very happy living that way. You especially cannot let a de-clawed cat outside.

I would report your neighbor's threat to police, as anti-cruelty laws also exist, but if something bad happened to your cat, it might be hard to prove your neighbor was responsible. Not to mention the fact that it would be too late for your cat.

Answer 4

Assuming that you are in the UK, there is absolutely nothing your neighbour can legally do, even if there were conclusive proof that your cat damaged his car. Since cats are excluded from the definitions of "livestock" and "cattle" under the Animals Act 1971, they cannot be held guilty of trespass under civil law and, therefore, their owners or keepers cannot be liable for any damage done.

As for threatening to poison your cat, then your neighbour is danger of committing an offence himself. Under the Protection of Animals Act 1911, any person who deliberately and intentionally administers any poison to an animal is guilty of an offence. Equally, a person commits an offence if he (or she) knowingly puts poison down in any building or place without taking reasonable precautions to avoid harming cats and kittens in the area.

If your neighbour is menacing you for the money, then inform him that you intend reporting the matter to the police and the RSPCA. Hopefully a word of caution from the police might make him understand that threatening to poison local pets is not a wise idea.

Here in Cyprus, there's lots of stray cats who often sleep on parked cars (mine included) and I've never known any of them to damage paintwork. Your neighbour sounds like a bully who is trying to intimidate you into paying for something which you are not responsible for. If there are other cat owners in your neighbourhood, it might be worthwhile checking if he's tried this little scam on them as well. If he has, then the police and RSPCA will definitely give this case higher priority.

Good luck

Answer 5

hi the only way a cat might claw on the motor vehicle is that in the event that they have been slidding of the bonnet etc as there is no longer something for the cats to claw into, is this motor vehicle made out of Carpet or the cloth you get on a scratch pad??? Your neighbour has to coach its your cats that are inflicting those advantageous scratches i cant see the cats doing this on purpose! Please overlook approximately any of the solutions that persons have positioned Your Cats are your accountability yet they gained't be taken far flung from you or be Declawed because it relatively is a ill ingredient and fortuitously is a criminal offense in uk! so please overlook approximately that stupid answer!!! however the biggest ingredient is is that Your neighbour has to coach it is your cats!!! play her at her own sport and without letting her comprehend shop your cats in for a mutually as and see if she comes around lower back blaming them, then if this does ensue you already know its in basic terms a load of rubbish!!! because of the fact your cats have been in doorways. yet once you sense relatively undesirable purchase her some T-cut back as an a apology possibly it may furnish up her from going on, yet without evidence there is no longer something she would be able to do!!!

Answer 6

If he's threatening to posion your cat, call the police, they may be of some help anyway as unless he saw *your* cat do it, he doesn't have a leg to stand on and the arguement is, if he saw what your cat was doing why didn't he stop them..also I'm not sure a cat's claws are strong enough to actually damage the paint on a car, he may have had an accident and wants you to food the bill, call the police and see what they say.

Answer 7

Has he got proof it was your cat? Like a video of it? If not, how can he prove it was? If it goes to court, judges are not of this planet, though. But threatening to poison someones cat is illegal, so if it was me I would prosecute him for that. That would shut him up about the car. What makes people think they have the right to hurt/kill a living thing because of accidental damage to an inanimate object?! DON'T give him money-that's called threatening bribery, even if he did see your cat.It's his car, it's a cat, he's responsible.

Answer 8

You are responsible - however, If he threatened to poison your cat - I would call the police and make a report about the bonnet and the threat. Get it on paper and then make him prove it was your cat. That is one ugly neighbor. I'd fight him as much as possible unless you know it was your cat. If so, pay but still file a report. Let your insurance deal with it or at least talk to them.

Answer 9

The only way he could make you pay is if he has proof that it was your cat who scatched the hood of his car. The amount he's asking is patheticly too high. If you think it was your cat, then offer a resonable amount. On the other part, him threatning to poison your cat, what a sicko. I would call the police and tell them! That's way out of line. No reason to threaten your animal. As far as I know, there is no leash law for cats either! Good luck with what you decide to do.

Answer 10

First off he can get in deep trouble for poisoning your cat, just be sure that you can verify that he threatened to do so if it should happen. BUT, you are responsible for his car damage. It's your cat and if not for your cat, his car would not have been damaged. The only recourse is to get the repair price he is asking for reduced, by getting an estimate of your own. However he is allowed to have his car returned to it's original condition before your cat scratched it.

Answer 11

Yes, you can be held responsible for it.

Ethically, you should pay him for the damage. Also ethically, he should not threatean to poison your cat, as your cat is a living being, and your responsibility and property. Call the police or bobbies, and get them to help mediate the conflict. Do not let that man intimidate you. But neither should you avoid the responsibility for what your cat may have done.

You may have to go to court on this problem. Good luck.