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I originally heard about this story on Radio 4′s PM, but after a bit of News Googling I found this version of the story from the Daily Bigot which goes into a bit more detail about the Southampton Catnapper.

There is also a post about the story on the PM Blog. I’ve commented on the feature but in case it doesn’t get approved (as I fear a pro-cat bias in the reporting of this story) I’ve copied my views here :

I am sick to death of selfish cat owners telling me it’s my problem that I object to having to clear up their cat’s excrement before I can mow my lawn, weed my plants or let children play in the garden.

Listening on PM to the cat owner whose cat had been taken I was appalled that she thought that having her animal’s excrement fouling other people’s gardens was fine. And then she pointed out that there were deterrents that could be bought to discourage cats from gardens – is she going to buy them for her neighbours? Why should they pay out their money and spend their time deterring animals which other people choose to have.

I wasn’t surprised by her comments however because 99% of cat owners show the same shocking arrogance. Dog owners can be prosecuted if they leave their dog’s excrement on pavements and other people’s gardens – it’s about time that cat owners were treated in the same way.

The person who relocated these cats has no doubt been driven to this act by the smug superiority of cat owners who believe that non-cat owners are in the wrong for not wanting disease ridden and stinking cat excrement in their gardens.

I will support the cat-napper wholeheartedly until cat owners start taking responsibility for their own animals’ mess. Sadly I expect it to be a long wait.

For the record I’d like to point out that despite the above, and being badly allergic to them, I don’t dislike cats per se. I just don’t see why I should have to clear up their excrement from my garden, and be treated with disdainful arrogance by cat owners when I mention this.