Expert: Lee Meyer - 11/28/2009

Question
I would like to ask about animal rights for cats. My partner and I live in the UK and we have been allowing our 2 kitten (7 months old) to explore the outside world by letting them out of our back window which is level to the ground. We cannot allow them to use the front door as a busy main road is right on our doorstep.

However after five days my next door neighbours scared and shooed the kittens back through the window and had me close it.

My neighbours own the entire back garden that stretches across 6 terraced properties. They claimed its private property and that they had hens.

Our property is rented and we have been told by our landlord that the small flag outside the window approximately 60x60cm is our property and we may use it. We have had problems in the last 6 months of living here regarding the vent for our dryer as our only means of drying clothes. The landlord had to go out and get a condensing dryer.

However I contacted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) advice centre. They notified us that cats have a right to roam anywhere and that if access is on our property that it can go anywhere.

Any cat can roam into their garden and I do not see my cats are any different. Also if they do have hens I would expect them to be enclosed within an area, as we are by a main road, other cats may attack them and also that a public church and grave yards is nearby.

Are we within our and animal rights to allow our kittens the safest and legal route out of our property, and to allow our kittens access to the outside route freely without vindication or prosecution?


Answer
Hi,

I am not a lawyer, I can't give you a good answer, plus I'm not in the UK.

If I were in your shoes, however, I'd ask the police what the laws are regarding cats in your area.  If the landlord says you have space to use you can use it.

Just pointing out a couple of issues.  First they still can be hit by cars or attacked by other animals.  The gardener neighbor can potentially leave food out poisoned for your cats.  Or the cats can pick up diseases or parasites being outside.  I know from cat owners if you never let them out they remain house cats and almost all have no desire to go outside.  Also you have to consider the consequences of what happens if your cats kill off some of the chickens.  Quite a headache to deal with.

In short, I am all for people being able to use their property, and if you have access to a small area back there that the landlords says you can use, you can use it.  If the roaming laws say cats can roam there, they can roam there.  But be aware of the negatives.  I'd consider the character of your neighbors in regards to the safety of your cats.