Boy Charged For Meowing At Neighbor Lady

ClickonDetroit ^ | August 23, 2006 | AP

[ShadowDancer]

Boy Charged For Meowing At Neighbor Lady

Family Gave Cat Away After Neighbor's Complaints

POSTED: 2:26 pm EDT August 23, 2006

JEANNETTE, Pa. -- Meow. A Pennsylvania judge is being asked to decide whether that word is a harmless taunt or grounds for misdemeanor harassment.

Police have charged a 14-year-old boy with that crime. Michael Loughner is accused of meowing whenever he sees his 78-year-old neighbor, Alexandria Carasia.

The boy's family got rid of their cat after Carasia complained that it was using her flower garden as a litter box. Now, she said, the boy makes meowing sounds every time he sees her.

He said he's only meowed at her twice.

"I've had to put up with this for three years," Carasia said. "As I walk by, I see Michael and his mother. He got on the porch and hid behind the bamboo screen and starts meowing. If I don't make this stop now, they're going to keep doing this to me. I shouldn't have to worry about walking out of the house and being harassed by this young kid."

Loughner said that on July 23 he went out to hold his dog so it wouldn't leave the yard as Carasia walked by.

"She was walking through and she kept looking at us," he testified. "I grabbed the dog so it wouldn't leave the yard. When I put my head down, I meowed."

He said that was one of the two times he's ever meowed at the woman, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported.

"As she walked in front of the house, nothing was said," the boy's mother, Sally Loughner, told the court. "He stepped off the porch to make sure the dog didn't get out. As he reached down and got the dog, he said, 'Meow.' ... She said, 'Do you want me to call the cops again?' I said, 'Go ahead, he hasn't done anything wrong.'"

There is a history of disputes between the neighbor, saccording to the paper.

Sally Loughner told the court that she ended up sending her cat to live with family members so that she could "keep peace in the neighborhood."

Defense attorney David Martin Jr. asked that the case be dropped.

"This should never have been filed," Martin said. "This is not something that police should be wasting their time with or wasting the court's time."

The judge heard from both parties Tuesday. He decided to wait 90 days before ruling, saying he'll decide what to do after seeing how the boy and his neighbor get along in the meantime.

[BruceysMom]

I don't shoot my neighbors cats with anything but a water hose. It doesn't even slow the little @ss holes down. I've spent money I didn't have in extra fencing and politely asked them to just put bells on their cats. They do nothing. Meanwhile while lovely summer evenings in my tiny yard are ruined by the sound of the cats killing small animals that I have set out food for. Cat owners seem to think that THEIR pet should have free range of the neighborhood. Not only does my dog not run free, but when I walk him I clean up after him. As soon as I meet a cat owner that is that responsible I will die of shock. My dog is not in their yard killing things. Why should their cat be in mine? For what it's worth I think the older lady should not have called the police but it seems the kids parents have the same attitude towards him that they did towards the cat. They let them both impose on others and feel justified. I pity the child and the lady.

[mom4kittys]

Gee, do you clean up after these small animals that you set food out for? I'm sure you are able to contain them within property lines so they don't make "deposits" on your neighbors yards. That is about as ridiculous as thinking you can contain a cat within property lines. A cat is not a dog. I also know that dogs can kill small animals such as squirrels and bitds in their own yard if given the opportunity.

[mom4kittys]

Besides, you don't have to clean up after a cat. They dig a hole to do their business and then they cover it up. I've never see a dog do this or any other animal for that matter,

[Texan5]

I live in a rural area, too, and if your dog is running loose, the fine is $500.00-there are also cougars around, and they are protected here, so if they eat your roaming domestic pet, too bad. Smart people keep their dogs in houses and yards. And roaming cats don't last long because besides the aforementioned cougars, they are also take out for coyotes. My cats and my neighbors cats stay safely indoors.

[BruceysMom]

That still doesn't make it ok when it's in my veggie garden, and that still doesn't solve the problem of them killing small animals IN MY YARD!!! Another problem is cat feces are too "hot" for many plants and will burn them.

[mom4kittys]

That's it then let's BAN all the animals and put them behind bars at the zoo because they are just too inconvenient for the arrogant human beings. God made this planet just for human beings and heaven forbid we should cohabitate with other life forms.

[BruceysMom]

Yeah thats a lot easier than actually taking responsibility for them. Heaven forbid a cat owner should have to deal with cleaning out kitty litter. After all thats what neighbor's gardens are for. Just life neighbors bird feeders are to supplement some one's cats diet. I don't much like cats and people like you that try to defend the indefensible don't help. How about if my dog craps in your garden as long as I cover it up? And of course you don't mind if he spends a large part of his day in your yard just hanging out trying to kill things right? After all it's ok for your pet. Cats and dogs are very different in many ways, responsible pet ownership is not.

[mom4kittys]

Cats are cats and dogs are dogs. 2 completely different species. You cannot deal with them the same way. There is no way you can contain a cat in a yard. Do you have a magic answer to that? I have plenty of dogs that crap in my yard. I don't whine about it and I certainly wouldn't shoot it with a bb gun if I caught them doing it. That is just cruel. It's just not that big of a deal except for silly people who have nothing else to worry about.

[BruceysMom]

As a former vet tech, my boss always advised people to keep their cats inside. It increases their life expextantcy. I never advocated shooting anything with a BB gun. I also think it's cruel. I know several people that have built an outdoor kitty aviary, for want of a better term. It keeps their cats safe and their neighbors happy. My initial complaint was my neighbors cats killing birds in my yard, not "whining" about cat crap, that was entirely an angle that you brought up rather than addressing cats killing things. My neighbors cats are so bad that I now have to check my yard before I let my dog into his own fenced area. That will soon stop. The cats will then not be a problem. Your attitude that "it's not a big deal except for silly people that have nothing else to worry about" Is exactly the attitude of every cat owner who's cats cause other people to hate them. Your inability to take responsibility for your pets is wrong. It's wrong when dog owners do it and it's wrong when cat owners do it. I have no respect for anyone that allows their pet, their kid, or themselves to destroy or damage other peoples property. My garden is my property, no one's cat has any business there. After all of this you still seem to be unable to answer why it is ok for someones pet to come into my yard and kill the birds that I spend time and money to attract to my yard. Obviously other people' s pride and attention to their surroundings is unimportant if it impedes your ability to let your cat roam.

[mom4kittys]

MY cats have NEVER been outdoors, but that doesn't mean that I think that anyone should let their cat be able to. You obviously don't like cats and would probably be the first one to make sure they get called to the pound.

Heck I've even gotten bitten by 2 large neighborhood dogs and required treatment, yet there was no way I would call the pound because I knew they would be put to sleep. They accidently got out and it took several times for them to remove their escape route. I checked that their shots were up to date. Kids being kids. Cats being cats. Dogs being dogs.

I've got children that stomp through my yard and flowers while playing ball but I don't whine about that either.

Do you clean up after the birds you feed? I'm sure they make deposits. Maybe your neighbors don't like that on their car. All some people have to worry about is bird crap on their car.

Unfortunately cats kill birds. Guess what Dogs kill squirrels? There is not a whole lot you can do about that. It is their natural instinct.

Maybe to please you we should deanimalize our pets and require that they have human attributes. I guess that would make you happy.

[freedumb2003]

Police?

What the heck have we come to????

The mom and/or dad should just wash the little kid's mouth out with soap for being disresepctful to elders.

[BruceysMom]

This is my last post to you. You have consistently demonstrated an inability to address a subject with out throwing up strawman examples. I'll say this real slow so you can get it:MY DOG DOES NOT KILL ANYTHING BECAUSE I DON'T LET HIM. CAT OWNERS CAN DO THE SAME. just to take the wind out of your hissy fit, my neighbors immediately to the left and right of me feed the birds too, and hate these cats.

[mom4kittys]

I think you just hate cats period.

[ShadowDancer]

MY DOG DOES NOT KILL ANYTHING BECAUSE I DON'T LET HIM.

Here's the problem with that. If you have a breed that instinctively goes for birds or other small animals, it's going to happen regardless of your vigilance. Unless you take your dog out on a leash in your backyard everytime you let him out.

[DocRock]

Alright, Meow! Your under arrest for acting like a cat. Isn't so funny meow, is it?

[BruceysMom]

My dog is on a leash most of the time he goes out. He is now old and slow so he would have a hard time catching anything even in the very tiny fenced yard that we have. I'm talking square feet, not square yards. He is most often walked on a leash several times a day and is only in his yard for a few minutes a few times a week.(and even then he is supervised) So I am very vigilant. Also even though he is 162 lbs his breed is LGD group, they protect,not chase for fun/hunting.

[BruceysMom]

As a ps: even if my dog killed something in my yard, while I would hate it, he would never, and has never, killed anything in someone else's yard, because he is either limited to his own turf or under both leash and voice control. That is my grievance with my neighbors cats, they are killing on MY property. They can kill what they d@mn well please in their own yards.

[ShadowDancer]

Do you take your dog on a leash in your fenced-in yard?

Also even though he is 162 lbs his breed is LGD group, they protect,not chase for fun/hunting.

Exactly what I said before, he is bred to guard livestock. If he was a retriever he would instinctively go after a bird or a squirrel or a toad for that matter. That wouldn't make him a bad dog, just a different breed.

[DocRock]

Obviously, you think I'm involved in a discussion which I am not... and obviously, you have never watched "Super Troopers" and had the gut busting privilege to watch the "cat game" scene in which the officer tries to say "meow" as many times as possible during a traffic stop. Meow you know why I posted what I did. (Say it quickly and "meow" sounds like "now".

FReegards,
DocRock

*snort... snicker*

[BruceysMom]

Sorry meant to post to shadowdancer. I've seen supertroopers and loved it.