Try calling the humane society. Maybe they can rent, loan or direct you to a source that has humane traps. Put a can of tuna in the trap and as soon as the cat or kitten enters, the door closes.....easier said than done.lol.
Again, maybe they can give you a list of people in your area that might help. That's the route I took. Two women showed up with traps and managed to capture a few. They were then put up for adoption. Better than a life on the street.
Good Luck,
milos

We ended up buying a cat trap, since renting it was $3.00 a day and we had it for about 2.5 weeks. They applied the rent to the $50 price tag and now we have it for good. We had a heck of a time with people dumping feral cats at our house. We had a totoal of 4 big toms dumped in about 1 month. We would catch them and take them to the humane society. They charge $20 per cat, but it is better than dumping them somewhere else. This way they might have a chance. I felt very very bad, but we already have 6 cats and all they did was fight and come in through the cat door (since they were starving) and then spray and fight with our cats in the house! Not a good thing to wake up to at 2:00am!

Check with your local humane society, they also offer traps. Good luck.

ps. tacky- but pick up the neighbors dog doodoo with a shovel and deposit it in their yard, every time. They eventually will get the message. Kinda close to the front door or under a window might be necessary! *evil laughter*

Susie

Or call Animal Control and have the dogs picked up - sounds mean, but the dogs aren't safe out in the streets either.

I'd try the poo trick on their front walk, so they don't miss it. Sheesh.

If the dogs are tagged, can't you call the City and have the neighbors fined or something? That would keep the dogs at home.

It is really hard to get rid of unwanted cats. The trap method is the best way. If they are truly feral, the humane shelter will probably euthanize them because they will probably not tame down enough to make good pets. There are so many cats in the shelters to choose from that a tame one will be picked before a wild one. People who don't take responsibility for their pets should not be allowed to have pets. As for dogs allowed to run loose, pick up the piles (save them up in a garbage bag - need about 5 pounds) put it in a paper sack, or better yet, gift wrap it, and place it on the doorstep of the person owning the dog that left it at your place with a note that reads "this belongs to your dog. He accidentally left it at my house." Hopefully they will get the hint and keep the dog up. If not, catch the dog, put it in your backyard, and call the dog catcher to pick it up. They will come pretty quick if you tell them you have the dog "detained". The owner has to pay to get the dog back.
Good luck, I know its an aggravating problem. I remember buying a new car and going out one morning to find scratch marks all over the hood when the cat slid. Believe it or not, I'm really an animal lover!!LOL

That stinks! (literally) hope something works out.

Detrick, I found this in a Google for "cat rescue Tucson AZ". There are several other organizations that popped up, but this one was specific in stating they work with feral cats. As difficult as it is to be objective when you've been bitten, please remember that the cat/kitten doing the biting is terrified, not vicious. (If you haven't had a tetanus shot in a while, you should get one; cat bites can be very bad.) Anyhow, if you can connect with an organziation that does TNR - Trap, Neuter, Release - at minimum, you can at least put a stop to the breeding. At best, the organization will help find homes or shelter for the cats. A feral cat is a cat that has no home, has not been socialized, is intent on survival and probably has been abused. It is not the cat's fault, but some human's. Rather than trying to trap and take them to almost certain death, please do try to find help that will work with kindness to the cat as the first priority. Good luck.

520-850-0001 rainbow_wildcats@hotmail.com

ABOUT FACT ABOUT FERAL CATS ADOPT CATS CURRENT EVENTS HELP THE KITTIES TIPS AND TRICKS RECOGNITION

ADOPT A "RAINBOW WILDCAT"(TM)
"EVERY COLOR BUT GREEN, EVERY PATTERN BUT PLAID".

ABOUT FACT

Facts About Fact

Hello, Everybody, Hello! Thank you for entering the FACT web site. Friends of Alley Cats of Tucson (FACT) is a small program which works with the feral and stray cat population in Tucson, AZ. We advise people who are feeding feral or stray cats and teach them how to Trap/Neuter and Return (TNR) the cats to their territory to prevent further breeding. We accept, bottle feed, socialize, vaccinate, test and alter a limited number of litters of unweaned infant feral and stray kittens and make them available for adoption. FACT has NO FUNDING WHATSOEVER and is dependent up on the generosity of the people who ask us to advise about TNR, the people who ask to relinquish kittens to us, the people who want to adopt the kittens, Dr. Kayomee Daroowalla, Dr. Kayla Boyer, the late Dr. Holly R. Keppel and ANIMALS' CRUSADERS OF ARIZONA for making this program possible. For further information about feral cats and why Trap, Neuter and Return is the best way to work with them please see ALLEY CAT ALLIES' HOME PAGE AND FERAL CAT COALITION'S HOME PAGE. Both sites have some wonderful articles you can read and download. The founder and director of FACT is Margo Elson. For more information after reading our page please call 520-850-0001 or email. FACT is a proud charter member of the Animal Welfare Alliance of Southern Arizona. Learn about AWASA.

I was just going to mention the Tucson Feral Cat lady.
The idea is a utopian one and involves a whole lot of love and effort on the part of the people at FACT, but in fact those cats are still gonna use your yard for a litterbox when they're replaced, neutered and vaccinated, back in your area.
I never could do anything about cats littering in my yard, because most of the options lead to their being euthanized. My best solution to date is having dogs, and that isn't workable for a lot of people.
Regarding the dog dropppings in your front yard- if you can catch them in the act of walking their dogs and allowing them to crap in your yard, you can quick run outside and follow them down the street, shouting "Hey wait! You forgot to pick up after your dog!!!" The trick is not to sound angry, but like you're trying to help them keep out of trouble with the law. Failing that, you can always save it up and deliver it to them later, like others have posted here.
I've read that if you petition the zoo for some wild animal manure (from predators, I imagine), you can make a line of it around the perimeter and dogs and cats won't go anywhere near your yard. It sounds kind of weird, but it makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Would YOU trespass somewhere if you thought lions and tigers lived on the property?

LOL, Eileen, a little bear scat would probably work, too!

I don't have any new suggestions on this topic other than the ones already provided by prior posters. However, I totally understand how frustrating this is.

For example, when we moved in here last year, our next door neighbors had 2 dogs: 1 golden retriever (totaly sweetie) and 1 medium-sized black poodle. That poodle was running around the neighborhood all of the time! It could scoot underneath their backyard gate and get out.

One time, we even saw it in our backyard. It left an unwrapped present there, too. I was not a happy camper.

One Sun. morning, a guy 1 street over knocked on my door with the poodle on a leash, wondering if it was ours. "Nope, that belongs to the folks next door." He was very perturbed, to say the least, because he'd caught the dog 3-4 times!

Well, another time, the whole family all of a sudden jumps into their cars and traverses the neighborhood looking for the dog.

A few weeks later, I was talking to the woman next door. The dog ran away again and was likely eaten by a coyote. She didn't seem to care much about it. How sad for that little dog that its owners didn't care enough about it to keep it safe.

Apparently, this has become enough of a problem around the neighborhood that our recent HOA newsletter talked about how you can report loose dogs to the Pima County Animal Control department. A lot of loose dogs probably don't have any tags.

In Mesa we were told by animal control that they
only spay or neutor the cats then dump them back
out to where they came from. They said it keeps
the rodent problem down and cuts down on unwanted
cat reproduction.

Gemfire

LOL - watch out what "zoo poo" you get - I've also heard of dogs rolling in it! Come to think of it, though - people would probably be less likely to let their dogs near your yard if they came back smelling like llama or bear, uh, scat....

Yeah, I had a friend whose cat came home smelling like elephant dung once. There was a movie being filmed in her neighborhood and somehow there was a circus scene that involved bringing elephants to the 'hood- my friend has actually been to every country in Africa, some of them multiple times, so I had to assume that's how she knew what elephant dung smelled like.
So the zoo poo will either frighten the dogs and cats away if I'm right, or discourage their owners from letting them roam so freely if PC's right- either way you win! So shovel up a big old trailer full and surround your compound with it!

Shoot, it probably even keeps burglars and solicitors away if you have enough of it!!

The best thing to do for feral cats is to humanely trap (you can rent a trap for $3.00 a day) or buy one. Then to spay or neuter (you can find it cheaply through spay and neuter clinics or for free-link is on azcentral) then release in the area captured. Directions are below, THIS IS THE ONLY HUMANE THING TO DO, IT's NOT the CATS FAULT-its you and your neighbors.
Return the feral cats to their territory Once the veterinarian gives you the OK, the cats should be returned to the area where you originally found them. They've staked out this territory and know it as home. At this point, you can help the feral felines by providing food and water daily, as well as some kind of shelter from rain, wind and cold. A waterproofed wooden box, with an opening just wide enough for cats, will serve this purpose. To deter the cats from walking on your lawn, toss orange peels or coffee grounds on the grass, or install a motion sensor that triggers your water sprinkler system to go on for a minute. Soon the cats will avoid your yard.
Finally, call animal control or the humane society for the dogs OR if the dogs are friendly (most are) take the dog into your home, go the vet, get it checked out and then try adopting the dog out to friends etc... or see if you can give it to a NO-KILL shelter. Most animals are killed at the humane society and animal control since in AZ it's not no-kill.