I've been taking care of a TNR colony for several years that's centered on property owned by a cousin, adjacent to property owned by me. I would move them, but the land I own is undeveloped--no electricity or well for water.
My cousin had been feeding them simply by dumping a bag of food out on the ground every now and then. I found some of them on my property, malnourished, and traced them back to her place. I got all of them TNRed and vaccinated, and with more food, they've been much healthier.
She has an old shed for shelter that has electricity, and for a couple of years, I had pet heating mats in a large box I built that I'd plug in in very cold weather. There were no problems. Then, last year, my cousin got the idea into her head that this was going to burn down her shed (more likely to fall down) and insisted, right before the coldest weather of the winter, that all the electrical heating be removed. No amount of reasoning would change her mind. (Karma then happened; even though I'd warned her about this, she took no steps to prevent pipes in her house freezing and had some crack and make a huge mess.)
I spoke to her about it last summer, and she seemed to be considering changing her mind. I work in electronics and know ALL about electrical safety, heat management, etc..., so I built something that would be far too expensive to buy, using power resistors, a heavy metal enclosure, and a heat sink. Bulletproof. I left it for her to look at and encouraged her to plug it in and verify that it wouldn't catch anything on fire. She acknowledged finding it, but that was it. (Keep in mind that I've done her many favors by fixing things for her; she's done nothing in return.)
In light of the extreme cold weather, I contacted her last week both via phone and email multiple times asking if we could use this custom-built electrical heat source for the duration of the below-normal weather. No response. (This is behavior I've seen from her before--unless she wants something.) I tried checking with her daughter. No response.
The cats can get under her house, so I hope they are able to find some shelter there, and they have some insulated boxes in the shed filled with wheat straw. I fed them yesterday, and I'm hoping they all make it through the coldest weather we've had in over 10 years.
Sorry for the venting, but it's so agonizingly frustrating to work so hard to do the right thing, only to have one idiot decide on a whim to throw a monkey wrench into the works. I know others of us have been there when the cats aren't on your property.
My cousin had been feeding them simply by dumping a bag of food out on the ground every now and then. I found some of them on my property, malnourished, and traced them back to her place. I got all of them TNRed and vaccinated, and with more food, they've been much healthier.
She has an old shed for shelter that has electricity, and for a couple of years, I had pet heating mats in a large box I built that I'd plug in in very cold weather. There were no problems. Then, last year, my cousin got the idea into her head that this was going to burn down her shed (more likely to fall down) and insisted, right before the coldest weather of the winter, that all the electrical heating be removed. No amount of reasoning would change her mind. (Karma then happened; even though I'd warned her about this, she took no steps to prevent pipes in her house freezing and had some crack and make a huge mess.)
I spoke to her about it last summer, and she seemed to be considering changing her mind. I work in electronics and know ALL about electrical safety, heat management, etc..., so I built something that would be far too expensive to buy, using power resistors, a heavy metal enclosure, and a heat sink. Bulletproof. I left it for her to look at and encouraged her to plug it in and verify that it wouldn't catch anything on fire. She acknowledged finding it, but that was it. (Keep in mind that I've done her many favors by fixing things for her; she's done nothing in return.)
In light of the extreme cold weather, I contacted her last week both via phone and email multiple times asking if we could use this custom-built electrical heat source for the duration of the below-normal weather. No response. (This is behavior I've seen from her before--unless she wants something.) I tried checking with her daughter. No response.
The cats can get under her house, so I hope they are able to find some shelter there, and they have some insulated boxes in the shed filled with wheat straw. I fed them yesterday, and I'm hoping they all make it through the coldest weather we've had in over 10 years.
Sorry for the venting, but it's so agonizingly frustrating to work so hard to do the right thing, only to have one idiot decide on a whim to throw a monkey wrench into the works. I know others of us have been there when the cats aren't on your property.