It received so unhealthy that one of many neighbours stated he now ‘wakes with dread every day questioning if there may be extra cat mess for me to have to wash up’
A dispute over cat poo in a quiet Welsh avenue has reached the excessive courtroom. New dad Richard Williamson, from Bedwas in Caerphilly borough, complained {that a} neighbour’s pets had been repeatedly defecating in his backyard and hasn’t been happy concerning the native council’s response.
It received so unhealthy that he stated he now “wakes with dread every day questioning if there may be extra cat mess for me to have to wash up”. It began final yr when Mr Williamson raised considerations with Caerphilly council a few cat pooing on his land.
He argued that whereas cats had been allowed to roam, they “shouldn’t have the precise the trigger a statutory nuisance or pose an environmental well being danger”. Keep knowledgeable on Caerphilly information by signing as much as our e-newsletter right here
Excessive courtroom paperwork which can be found publicly present Mr Williamson stated he was fearful about potential well being dangers to the household’s new-born child “who will quickly be taking part in in our backyard”.
The council investigated the criticism however concluded that cats weren’t ruled by the identical roaming legal guidelines as canines or livestock. Officers additionally visited the cats’ proprietor to test they’d entry to litter trays.
However after Mr Williamson took the matter to the excessive courtroom a decide dominated the authority ought to rethink the case, discovering it had failed to handle the central query as as to whether the cat fouling may quantity to a “statutory nuisance”.
“Nothing on this judgment must be taken as expressing a view somehow on the end result of the redetermination,” wrote Choose Jarman KC in paperwork revealed after a listening to at Cardiff Excessive Courtroom.
The papers present Mr Williamson first emailed the council in October 2024 saying he had tried to resolve the difficulty straight along with his neighbour.
“I wake with dread every day questioning if there may be but extra cat mess for me to have to wash up,” he wrote. “As a mother or father of a new child who will quickly be taking part in in our backyard, I’m notably involved concerning the well being dangers related to cat faeces.”
In accordance with the paperwork a council official later visited the cats’ proprietor and was “glad that there are ample provisions for the cats” on the property, together with litter trays.
The official additionally wrote that cat homeowners had been required to “make issues of welfare and never letting cats outdoors when they’re accustomed to it, may be detrimental to their welfare”.
In his ruling, Choose Jarman stated the “essence of the problem” was that the council had targeted on how the cats had been saved and their widespread regulation proper to roam, fairly than assessing whether or not the fouling “amounted to deposits which had been prejudicial to well being” beneath part 79 of the Environmental Safety Act 1990.
Caerphilly Council has been approached for remark.
