Neighbours Sue Shogi Pro For Feeding Stray Cats

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]Asahi: Shogi pro sued for feeding stray cats
Neighbors have sued professional shogi player Hifumi Kato, demanding that he stop feeding stray cats because their nighttime caterwauling causes mental stress. Residents of the housing complex where Kato, 68, lives, also want about 6.4 million yen in compensation, according to the lawsuit filed with the Hachioji branch of the Tokyo District Court. Kato admits feeding a stray cat and kittens that live in the garden of his housing unit. He said the cats would have died if he had not fed them and that he had tried not to trouble other residents.

There's a short TBS video report here.

[GomiGirl]

Shouldn't they sue the cats for the noise they make? Oh yes, the cats have no cash to try to exploit.

[Charles]

Shouldn't they sue the cats for the noise they make? Oh yes, the cats have no cash to try to exploit.

You probably could sue the cats, if you could find an innovative lawyer (try finding one of those in Japan). But the cats could only pay with one thing: their lives.

[dimwit]

Around our neighbourhood we have several hundred stray cats and they seem to be fed by a crazed looking 50ish woman. Walking my dog at night, I have caught laying out food all over the neighbourhood. I don't now if what she is doing is criminal but it certainly creates a nuisance as the cat tear up the garbage bags, piss and crap everywhere and are loud as hell when they go into heat (though I suppose this could also describe a few FG).

Cats as pets I have no problem with, but feeding strays without taking any responsiblity for their actions demonstrates a total disregard for anyone else.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Shouldn't they sue the cats for the noise they make? Oh yes, the cats have no cash to try to exploit.

Fuck that shit. They should sue his ass. I fucking hate it when people feed the strays. In my old neighborhood there was always trash scattered everywhere by those fucking glorified rats. It also pisses me off that people let their house cats run around outside cause all kinds of problems. Made me wish I had acces to a gun. Do they even have animal control in this country?

[Iraira]

and are loud as hell when they go into heat (though I suppose this could also describe a few FG).

Yeah, I got a slut cat living across the street, and he/she's perpetually singing for sex, however gf thinks his/her wail sounds like "Chinnnnnnnkoooo!" and gf seems to also become aroused so.....I'm not complaining, just stating an observation, a correlation perhaps.

[GomiGirl]

Oh - not a board of cat lovers I see.

There is a volunteer group that is catching stray cats, sterilising them and then letting them go again. Perhaps somebody should get this group involved?

Feral cats are nasty things, however, I think that people are just *trying* to be humane when they feed strays not realising the consequences.

The cats aren't the problem - it is the bad owners who don't get them sterilised or dump them when they get too much trouble.

[6810]

Doesn't really matter if they sue, since although the suit may be a success, you can't be legally compelled to actually pay. In other words, there are very few recourses if the successfully sued party refuses to pay...

One of the bog complaints of many Japanese is that the law doesn't do enough for victims...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Oh - not a board of cat lovers I see.

There is a volunteer group that is catching stray cats, sterilising them and then letting them go again. Perhaps somebody should get this group involved?

Feral cats are nasty things, however, I think that people are just *trying* to be humane when they feed strays not realising the consequences.

The cats aren't the problem - it is the bad owners who don't get them sterilised or dump them when they get too much trouble.

I grew up with cats as pets and do like them. I don't like the fact that people in Japan let their cats run all over the place and that there isn't an animal control agency effectively dealing with the strays. That group letting sterilized strays go is fucking retarded. They should be putting them to sleep.

[Mike Oxlong]

There should be license fees for all pets at the point of sale. Further, the fees should be way higher for those who buy "breeders", and don't either purchase sterilzed pets, or have them sterilized by the time they cum of age...

[Takechanpoo]

Oh sorry,
I am one of the crazies who feed stray cats, too.
I cannot help feeding them when I see their cute faces.
And I dont think they are complete strangers to me, regardless of whether they are pet or stray. never can leave them alone.

Real problem is that you are so narrow-minded that you mind trivial things, crying voices, scratches on car and so on.
Change your minds.

[Greji]

Oh - not a board of cat lovers I see.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that. Cats are really great with soy sauce and a good Chardonnay!

[wuchan]

Oh - not a board of cat lovers I see.

There is a volunteer group that is catching stray cats, sterilising them and then letting them go again. Perhaps somebody should get this group involved?

Feral cats are nasty things, however, I think that people are just *trying* to be humane when they feed strays not realising the consequences.

The cats aren't the problem - it is the bad owners who don't get them sterilised or dump them when they get too much trouble.

japan needs a Bob Barker
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[Iraira]

I wouldn't go as far as to say that. Cats are really great with soy sauce and a good Chardonnay!

An excellent choice

[Dragonette]

Oh sorry,
I am one of the crazies who feed stray cats, too.
I cannot help feeding them when I see their cute faces.
And I dont think they are complete strangers to me, regardless of whether they are pet or stray. never can leave them alone.

Real problem is that you are so narrow-minded that you mind trivial things, crying voices, scratches on car and so on.
Change your minds.

Oh, oh - against my will I find myself agreeing with Take-the-Poo yet again... For a more practical defense of stray cats, they have the benefit of keeping the ever-present big-city rat and mouse population under control.

Manhattan Island has a lot of underground streams, and one flows directly beneath our building, which is the root cause of the continuing mouse problem for some of the coop owners. Not us, though - our two cats keep them out of our apt. The only time we saw the problem was when my old cat passed away about 15 years ago]these[/URL] links

[Hawaiibadboy]

Oh sorry,
I am one of the crazies who feed stray cats, too.
I cannot help feeding them when I see their cute faces.
And I dont think they are complete strangers to me, regardless of whether they are pet or stray. never can leave them alone.

Real problem is that you are so narrow-minded that you mind trivial things, crying voices, scratches on car and so on.
Change your minds.

I always thought you were a nut sack???
Your actually straight-up??

Feed the lions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or stray cats:D

[TennoChinko]

I don't care about feeding the occasional stray cat or kitten.

However, it's those nuts who insist on feeding swarms of pigeons that gets me. I can't help worry about H5N1 (aka "bird flu").

[james]

Oh, oh - against my will I find myself agreeing with Take-the-Poo yet again... For a more practical defense of stray cats, they have the benefit of keeping the ever-present big-city rat and mouse population under control.

i personally don't like cats. they make a mess, they smell awful and leave their turds everywhere. i don't think i could be cruel to one though.

i say spay / neuter them, and train them to hunt those %$!@ing sparrows. cause while i have no love for cats, i hate those flying vermin even more.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I don't care about feeding the occasional stray cat or kitten.

However, it's those nuts who insist on feeding swarms of pigeons that gets me. I can't help worry about H5N1 (aka "bird flu").

Fuck pigeons too. Anyone that feeds those flying rats should be tarred and feathered.

[GuyJean]

.. they smell awful and leave their turds everywhere...

Huh? They clean themselves all the time and burry there own shit. You can't even say that about humans!

GJ

[Takechanpoo]

Fuck pigeons too. Anyone that feeds those flying rats should be tarred and feathered.

You seem to have useless big body and extraordinary tiny heart.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Former shogi great must compensate neighbors over stray cat doings

The Tokyo District Court ordered on Thursday former ninth level shogi great Hifumi Kato to pay his neighbors between 36,000 and 300,000 yen for damage done by stray cats he was feeding. He was also ordered to stop feeding the animals.

Seventeen of Kato's neighbors in Mitaka, Tokyo, along with the property management association for their residences filed suit against the famed 70-year-old former shogi player calling for 6.45 million yen for damage caused by the strays' urinating and defecating in the area, as well as an order to stop feeding the animals.

According to the suit and other sources, Kato began feeding the stray cats by the front door and in the yard of his home in 1993. At one point, 18 cats were gathering to be fed, and neighbors' properties were soon littered with garbage stolen by the cats and smelled of the animals' doings. Kato's neighbors and the property management association repeatedly warned Kato to stop giving food to the cats, which Kato apparently ignored. Arbitration over the issue collapsed, leading the residents to file suit in November 2008.

During the trial, the plaintiffs pointed to the regulations governing tenants of their apartment complex -- which prohibits keeping pets that may cause annoyance to neighbors -- and to Kato's continued refusal to abide by requests for him to stop feeding the cats, leading to intolerable levels of damage.

Kato responded by saying that "Feeding the cats outside is not the same as keeping a pet. And even if the cats were temporarily under my care, cats are not troublesome animals. The damage claims are for the most part groundless."

[IkemenTommy]

The neighbors should just go out and get some arsenic at the local DIY store. That'll do the job.

[Samurai_Jerk]

The neighbors should just go out and get some arsenic at the local DIY store. That'll do the job.

And they ought to make sure he's the one who consumes it.

[IkemenTommy]

And they ought to make sure he's the one who consumes it.

And imagine if this was China, they wouldn't be having this problem.

[Samurai_Jerk]

And imagine if this was China, they wouldn't be having this problem.

I still don't understand why Japan doesn't seem to have any kind of effective animal control.

[IkemenTommy]

I still don't understand why Japan doesn't seem to have any kind of effective animal control.

They do in a way because you don't see that many stray cats and dogs like you do in places like Thailand.