10/12/2026
Graphic photo warning ⚠️
🚨 Ready for my sound off? If not, keep scrolling. Because today, I am PI**ED.
Nothing grinds my gears more than irresponsible pet owners, and today I lost TWO of my birds to what I can only assume is either someone’s outdoor pet cat or a stray/feral cat that has been hanging around our property ALL SUMMER.
I moved my large chicken coop about a month ago, thinking that putting it closer to the house, the dogs, and all the general chaos of our property would help deter this cat. Apparently, it didn’t matter. Two more birds are dead, and to add insult to injury, this damn cat showed up on my PORCH just minutes ago yet again.
I am beyond frustrated. We work hard to care for our animals, keep them safe, and provide them with a good life. We have invested time, money, and countless hours into our farm, and it is infuriating to lose animals because someone else can’t be bothered to take responsibility for theirs.
I love to allow my birds to free range and live their lives to the fullest, it is not fair to them that this happens in their own yard. Yes, I can’t protect them from every single predator every time and with free ranging it happens, but this is not caused from wild animals. It was obviously at one point someone’s pet (or still is.)
And before anyone comes at me with the “cats are just doing what cats do” argument, I KNOW. I understand animals have instincts. THAT IS EXACTLY WHY RESPONSIBLE OWNERSHIP MATTERS. Your pet’s instincts do not erase your responsibility as its owner.
I am not claiming to be a perfect animal owner. I’m not saying one of my animals could never get loose or that accidents never happen. But there is a HUGE difference between an unfortunate accident and repeatedly allowing animals to roam freely, breed uncontrollably, kill other people’s animals, or be dumped and left for someone else to deal with.
The amount of stray cats, feral colonies, and dogs running loose around here is absolutely ASTOUNDING. And who pays the price? The animals themselves, the people trying to care for them, and the innocent animals that end up dead because nobody wanted to take responsibility.
SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR DAMN PETS. Keep your animals contained. If you can’t care for them anymore, find a responsible solution instead of dumping them somewhere and making them someone else’s problem.
It’s not cute for your pets to run free. It’s not cute because your dogs think it’s fun to just “visit the neighbors.” Then these folks are the first ones crying and yelling at the drivers for hitting their animals they let run freely.
And if you’re feeding stray cats, please understand that feeding them without addressing the population through humane trapping, spaying/neutering, and responsible care doesn’t solve the problem long-term.
I am heartbroken for my birds, furious that this keeps happening, and absolutely exhausted by the “not my problem” mentality. My birds are a HUGE financial/physical investment for me and this is so utterly devastating.
YOUR ANIMALS ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. Period.
And yes, that is/was my beautiful Ermine rooster. 💔
GONE.
I almost never let these guys free range but it’s been beautiful out and wanted them to soak it in before the cold hits us.
With livestock comes “deadstock” but it’s most definitely not the fun part.
End rant. 😡
