Am I Being Overly Sensitve About Possible Harm To My Cats?

[myfamily]

I rent a townhouse along an irrigation canal. The irrigation canal is apparently owned by the city. Last summer unbeknownst to me, my neighbor sprayed along the canal because he said it had hemlock in it.
His spraying turned all the weeds brown. This happened in the summer of last year, and my cat got ill in December, and died not long after. She had some kind of lymphoma cancer. She was about 10 years old. I have always felt that his spraying had something to do with it because my cats spend a lot of time along the canal. He is a maintenance man by trade. Not a maintenance here, mind you, but he is a maintenance man for an apartment community elsewhere so he has access to the spraying equipment and chemicals. Now he is getting ready to do it again. He scoffs at the idea that my cat getting sick had anything to do with his spraying last year. I think about all the suffering my cat had to go through, and I am literally about to snap. Am I being overly sensitive? I have OCD so I often do not know when I am being irrational. I have already written the city to ask them if they can do something to interfere. It is city property. The rental management company from whom we rent has no ownership along the canal.

 

[denice]

I don't think that it was the cause of your cat's lymphoma because your cat cat died just a few months later. Lymphoma takes longer to develop and get to the point of death. There are many possible causes of lymphoma in cats. It is the most common cancer in cats, it has even been nicknamed 'kitty cancer'.

That being said, it isn't good for your cats to be exposed to a herbicide. Is there anyway you can keep them inside for a while after he sprays?

 

[margd]

I remember your post from last year about this. I seriously doubt that it is legal for a private citizen to spray any kind of herbicide on public lands. At the very least, they would require a permit in advance from the city since the city is responsible for any damage/injury that takes place.

Application of herbicides and pesticides is strictly regulated and the city is required to keep records of any spraying that takes place. Is your neighbor submitting the proper paperwork? Every state has an environmental agency that regulates these issues and it might help you to learn everything you can about their regulations to arm yourself for any interactions with the city. One regulation that is present in many, if not all states is that you, as a citizen, have the right to know what herbicide is being sprayed and at what strength. By not filing a report with the city, your neighbor is interfering with your legal right to know this information. In some jurisdictions,I believe you may also have the right to be notified before such spraying takes place. This is true for the US - I don't know what regulations are in place in other countries unfortunately, but it shouldn't be that hard to find out with the help of Google.

One of the important things to know is the herbicide being sprayed. I remember from last year that you said that the vegetation on the entire side of the canal was killed. One of the most widely used herbicides in the U.S. is Round-Up, (active ingredient = glyphosate) which can create just such an effect. Although Round-Up has been sold for years as relatively harmless (to humans, pets and wildlife), this claim on the part of the manufacturer is not univerally accepted. If you are in the US, you can get more information at the website of the National Pesticide Information Center. They also have a number you can call: 1-800-858-7378. Since you don't know that your neighbor is actually applying a glyphosate based herbicide, I would just ask him what he plans to spray before you call. There is no reason he should hide that information from you.

There is another aspect of this that might interest the city, which is that killing off all of the vegetation on the bank of a canal leaves it open to erosion which in turn could jeopardize the bank's stability and cause even more problems for the city.

Having said all that, I also remember that the reason your neighbor is concerned is because he has a young child who plays along the bank and hemlock is deadly poisonous. It's only natural that he's worried about his child's safety and wants to minimize any danger his child might encounter. I wonder if he would consider working with you on this issue. How widespread is the hemlock? Is it practical to dig it up by hand? Or is it possible to target each plant with the herbicide instead of just blasting the entire bank?

 

[myfamily]

I remember your post from last year about this. I seriously doubt that it is legal for a private citizen to spray any kind of herbicide on public lands. At the very least, they would require a permit in advance from the city since the city is responsible for any damage/injury that takes place.

Application of herbicides and pesticides is strictly regulated and the city is required to keep records of any spraying that takes place. Is your neighbor submitting the proper paperwork? Every state has an environmental agency that regulates these issues and it might help you to learn everything you can about their regulations to arm yourself for any interactions with the city. One regulation that is present in many, if not all states is that you, as a citizen, have the right to know what herbicide is being sprayed and at what strength. By not filing a report with the city, your neighbor is interfering with your legal right to know this information. In some jurisdictions,I believe you may also have the right to be notified before such spraying takes place. This is true for the US - I don't know what regulations are in place in other countries unfortunately, but it shouldn't be that hard to find out with the help of Google.

One of the important things to know is the herbicide being sprayed. I remember from last year that you said that the vegetation on the entire side of the canal was killed. One of the most widely used herbicides in the U.S. is Round-Up, (active ingredient = glyphosate) which can create just such an effect. Although Round-Up has been sold for years as relatively harmless (to humans, pets and wildlife), this claim on the part of the manufacturer is not univerally accepted. If you are in the US, you can get more information at the website of the National Pesticide Information Center. They also have a number you can call: 1-800-858-7378. Since you don't know that your neighbor is actually applying a glyphosate based herbicide, I would just ask him what he plans to spray before you call. There is no reason he should hide that information from you.

There is another aspect of this that might interest the city, which is that killing off all of the vegetation on the bank of a canal leaves it open to erosion which in turn could jeopardize the bank's stability and cause even more problems for the city.

Having said all that, I also remember that the reason your neighbor is concerned is because he has a young child who plays along the bank and hemlock is deadly poisonous. It's only natural that he's worried about his child's safety and wants to minimize any danger his child might encounter. I wonder if he would consider working with you on this issue. How widespread is the hemlock? Is it practical to dig it up by hand? Or is it possible to target each plant with the herbicide instead of just blasting the entire bank?

Thank you for your response, and for the information. I am going to work now but will read it more closely when I get home. I didn't get much sleep last night stressed out about the reemergence of my neighbor's spraying activity. I contacted a department in the city government, and they said to contact "code enforcement" without any indication who or what code enforcement is. He needs to keep his kids out of the weeds if he is concerned about the hemlock. He is trying to act like a big shot around here because he is a maintenance man for a entirely different apartment community, as well as, management company. I wrote my management company and directed them to tell him to stand down and stop acting like he is the maintenance man around here. So many ways I tend to look at this, all the arguments going round and round in my head last night. I know it is a common kitty cancer. It is unlikely that his spraying caused it. But he told me he sprayed 24D which is a broad based leaf and it doesn't kill weeds just leafs. Well according to information I read about 24D it is inconclusive as to whether there is a link to cancer. Also, his application last year did kill weeds. So I am betting he used something other than 24D. He lied about having been the one who sprayed it last year making me think my rental management company did it, so I wouldn't doubt he is lying about the solution he sprayed.

 

[surya]

How many cats do you have? Can you keep them inside?

 

[arouetta]

I have to agree with Denise, the timing is far too short for cancer to develop and kill. It's a coincidence.

While people can get into full-blown wars over little things like code violations and the like, in the end what is the goal? What type of resolution is it you want? And how far are you wanting to push things? Sometimes being neighborly is the best goal.

I can certainly understand a neighbor not wanting his child to die. Hemlock is a nasty way to go, and even if the kid lives the long-term neurological effects are terrible. And to be honest, you don't want your cats in it either, it's that nasty.

Now I did not read your post from last year but why is keeping your cats inside not an option? While kids need fresh air and sunshine which is why hemlock is a concern, cats only need a nice windowsill and there's far more dangers outside to cats than herbicide.

 

[margd]

2,4-D is a broadleaf weed herbicide, meaning that it doesn't affect grasses. It's widely used in controlling broadleaf weeds in lawns so it would make sense that a maintenance man would have access to it. However, if everything is killed, including the grasses, then he's not using 2,4-D. That's why I was thinking it might be Round-up but it would be more reasonable to spray 2,4-D under the circumstances. That doesn't make it legal for him to spray on public lands without permission but it may explain why the city isn't very concerned. They may think he's saving them the trouble and that 2,4-D, which has been around since 1945, isn't toxic to humans, pets and wildlife when properly used. (Again, this is under dispute and there are studies whose results indicate that 2,4-D is a possible carcinogen).

Your city, county or state websites should all have a page for their environmental office and it's there that you will find the regulations and codes for spraying. That's where you should find a number for "code enforcement". This may be the way to put an end to his spraying since he is surely breaking code by applying an herbicide on public lands without permission and without filing the required paperwork. Someone from that office should be able to learn what herbicide he is actually spraying.

It probably isn't very practical to keep his kids off the canal bank, if they like to play there. Kids do manage to get into places they shouldn't, no matter how well supervised. Also, he could turn around and tell you the same thing, that you should keep your cat out of the area involved. Keeping them inside is actually a good idea - it protects them from many dangers, including injuries from fights with other animals, insect pests, worms, cars, and predators, including the human variety. To be honest, the herbicide may be less of a potential danger than some of the above. That doesn't mean you need to put up with indiscriminate herbicide spraying by a fellow neighbor, but it will keep your cats safe.