I have just, this minute, made my voice heard at the apartment complex where I live in respect of garden weedkillers being put down without a thought for cat companions.
I was sitting at my desk and noticed – and smelled – a chemical being sprayed on the lawn. I asked Michelle to go out and ask if it was “pet safe”. I asked her because I wanted to ensure there was peace in the community. When it comes to protecting my cat, I tend to be too direct and use plain language that some people find hard to digest. They see me as a crazy cat man.
As nothing happened I went out myself and asked. The gardening contractor working for a hired company, who was spraying chemicals on the lawn in lines, said that it was not safe for cats and that it would kill a cat. I asked when would it be safe. He said in about one hour. But can I trust him? The sun is shining. Doesn’t the chemical have to be washed into the ground by rain to guarantee safety? I do not know.
Then the head gardener turned up, who happens to be one of the flat owners, and I made my feelings known. What are my feelings about this?
Well, committees or managing companies who are in charge of managing the maintenance of condos and blocks of flats or apartments should factor in companion animals when instructing contractors (businesses) to maintain gardens. The often don’t.
It is not good enough to say in relation to cat safety that, “nothing has happened for years”. Or, “I don’t know of any cat that has been hurt by weedkiller”. This is not good enough because often people won’t know if cats are being poisoned by weedkiller. No one is keeping records and frankly not many people care.
The cat is particularly vulnerable to garden chemicals because she licks the chemical off her paws and belly. Cats also eat grass they brush against plants. This adds significantly to the concentration and amount of chemical ingested.
A committee who run a complex of apartments should ensure that all chemicals used in the communal garden are cat and dog safe – and child safe too.
If they don’t do that they are open to being sued for compensation for the loss of a companion animal. In my case, if my cat was killed or hurt by weedkiller on communal gardens, I would never forgive myself and someone would pay a heavy price. It would be big negative in my life.
People living in apartments should make sure that people in charge of garden maintenance are thinking of cats when they put down obnoxious chemicals on the lawn to make it look better. I hate chemicals. People do this to make a lawn look attractive. What is more important: an attractive lawn or a poisoned and dying cat? Well, for most people, the lawn is more important.
There must be some “pet safe” weed killers. If there aren’t and if people insist on putting the stuff on lawns be very careful on behalf of your cat.
Earlier post on the subject: Lawn Treatments. And Toxic to Cats.
Keep dreaming… But it is a nice thought.
Update:
This is what the company doing the herbicide spraying say:
My response is that this is unsatisfactory. The substance is clearly poisonous and no one gave us forewarning.
Also wandering cats are at risk. And cats eat grass so even if the chemical has dried it can still be ingested. The operative said the chemical killed cats. How do they know they have never had a problem? Who reports cat health problems to a gardening contractor? The damage to health may be delayed so you cannot connect poor health with the herbicide.
Yes, I like what you say as usual. The word “weeds” has taken on a meaning that goes well beyond what weeds are. I believe we should embrace nature so much more and be natural in it. Human is screwing up over and over.
I am dreaming of a get-together somewhere, somehow.
We are so alike, Marc, it’s scary sometimes! I hate lawns too.
Too bad we live on different continents. It would be nice to have you over some evening, Jeff could cook up some brats (unless you are a vegetarian) and we could have a couple of beers (Jeff likes “Spotted Cow” which is made in New Glarus) and watch Monty play in the back yard. It feels like I know everybody from PoC, like we are neighbors. It’s just a shame we aren’t able to get together.
We have garlic mustard here and some other transplants from Europe that are now invasive plants, crowding out the natural wild flowers. But the only way to get rid of garlic mustard is to pull it out by the root. Anything put down to kill it will kill desirable, natural plants too. I really think as far as lawns are concerned, you can get rid of the weeds the old fashioned way– by pulling them out by hand. It’s really the best and safest way and it gets us some exercise too. My plan here is to get rid of the invasive plants and buy some wildflower seeds at the Audubon Center and scatter them. They have seeds that are only made up of plants native to the area. Many of the wildflowers are considered weeds, but to me that is stupid. A plant is a plant, unless it’s something that should never have been here but for man screwing up the ecosystem transplanting it. What people call weeds are often the hardiest plants (I think even I can manage to grow wildflowers) and they are not useless. Many “weeds” are edible plants. Why we have decided they aren’t as desirable is beyond me.