Freedom to Roam: Cats and Property Rights

Cats Are Footloose and Free
Domestic cats enjoy special legal protection under most countries’ legislation that grants them the “right to roam”. In the U.K. this freedom means they do not have to be securely confined and may roam freely without fear or legal repercussions from their actions – no liability lies with either themselves or their owners in case anything they damage, soil or cause nuisance; which can be immensely frustrating for those who dislike cats!

As with most captive animals, cats have legal status that is equivalent to property, making their death or harm criminal damage or theft under either Criminal Damages Act 1971 or Theft Act 1968. Their freedom is guaranteed under Animals Act 1971 which makes provisions regarding civil liability for damage done by animals; cats were assessed as less likely than other species to cause injury and therefore excluded from such civil liability provisions – effectively meaning we do not even own them legally!

So these cats roam free and run amok; unlike in many other countries there is no mandatory requirement to neuter or vaccinate them, no restrictions on how many you can have at any one time, no licensing or registration system in place and no controls over breeding – the problem lies here.

This freedom exists throughout the world, including in the USA which offers an eclectic combination of Federal, State and local laws regulating cats that do not restrict them to an “owners” property or indoors – Maine being one of the exceptions as their animal trespass law does not include cats at all; similarly in Australia cats are considered an invasive species with night curfews and ownership bans being introduced for certain States; most countries in reality often treat cats like an invisible entity by prioritising dogs instead.

At times like these, individuals take matters into their own hands by resorting to illegal or harsh retaliatory acts against those they deem nuisance, such as shooting them with guns or poison. Others go as far as to capture nuisance cats and dump them far away.

Though cats enjoy their freedom, it can bring its own set of problems. Due to a lack of control, this has resulted in an ongoing “cat crisis” across the UK involving thousands of lost, abandoned, and unwanted cats; charity groups spend considerable sums annually trying to repatriate these felines while simultaneously combatting irresponsible breeding practices and poor ownership practices.

Cats often carry the stigma of being nuisances due to their destructive behaviors, toiletry habits and natural instincts of hunting small animals and birds for food, making many people hateful of cats around the world and particularly in America, Australia and New Zealand.

Cats Matter Too Without some form of legal intervention it will always be impossible to reduce the excessive U.K. cat population, enhance their reputation or improve their well-being and most importantly protect both them, their owners, and cat haters from one another – but I am in no way suggesting restricting or stopping their “freedom to roam”, as this is part and parcel of being a cat!