Yesterday’s news from police about an alleged cat injuring prank in Scullin generated near universal disgust (along with the inevitable argument about whether animal abuse is a gateway to more serious crimes against people).
But it also brought a post by one of the neighbours in the Scullin apartments about life with an antisocial group running wild.
It deserves wider attention, so here it is.
#36 Gennalove
12:00 am, 14 Dec 11
I live in the appartment block where this happened with six other residents not including those associated with this boy. As much as I sympathise with those people out there who want justice done to him, the real problem is the group of teenagers who reside in this specific flat.
We have been dealing with this rubbish for over seven months now and unfortunately ACT Housing tells us all that their hands are tied, that they cannot simply evict these kids, despite the fact that this is not the first time they have caused harm to our property or intimidated and threatened any of us verbally or otherwise; though it is certainly the most heinous crime they have yet commited. ACT Housing are telling us to go to the police. The police tell us to go to Housing. When is enough, enough? Must one of us be physically assaulted in order for someone to pay attention? Obviously, this awful event was not enough.
All the residents of these flats, excluding these kids, are kind and gentle people. Yes, they may be a little eccentric but as far as public housing complexes go, I could not wish for better or more curteous and caring neighbours. That they should have to live in fear is unacceptable and cruel. ACT Housing are treating these kids like they are the victims and we, the perpetrators. We have done nothing more than exercise our right to a peaceful neighbourhood by involving police as regularly as possible. Though nothing is done. This is the real crime.
I know that the owner of that cat loved him and cared for him. He did not deserve this. And we do not deserve to live next to those people who are capable of such an unspeakable crime that only adds to the long, long list of what they have already done.
I am sick of feeling unsafe even in my own home. I am sick of waiting for police to arrive only to do nothing. I am sick of preventing my friends and family coming over of a weekend night for fear of their safety as they walk up the stairwell. I am sick of hiding in my flat. I am sick of turning the music up loud to drown out the sounds of their domestic violence.
We are sick of being unheard.
We are sick of being ignored.
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Katie Gallagher should be petitioned tomorrow morning on 666 either to make a grace and favour payment and restore this cat to its owner, or allow a victims of crime payment of some kind. It is simply unfair for the owner to lose the cat.
Who is the vet? Perhaps the owner could pay him off. Pressure the vet to organise reasonable terms for payment? If it’s my vet, I’ll boycott the practice if that would help a campaign!
Chop71 said :
Are they repairing your bridge at the moment?
(Presuming this story is correct):
1. The naughty residents won’t do anything (as they’re receiving a free ride off the ACT).
2. ACT Housing won’t do anything (at the prospect of delegitimizing their own existence).
3. Police won’t do anything (as they police ACT law, not create it)
4. RiotACTer’s won’t do anything (as they appear to care more for cats than humans).
5. The victimized local residents won’t do anything (that does not make them a criminal in the ACT).
6. The ACT correctional facilities won’t do anything (wood work on drugs is worth the risk)
7. (This point has been left blank due to ACT laws)
8. The ACT judicial system won’t do anything (unless they place their work above their career aspirations)
The point is, if I put myself in those scumbag’s shoes, the ACT is the place to be.
I’ve read through this thread a couple of times and been thinking a bit about this issue. It is really sad that members of our community have to live in fear because of the actions of a few around them who seem to be able to do what they want without fear of consequence.
There have been a lot of calls for housing or the police to ‘do something’, and I agree, something needs to be done to ensure that everyone in our community feels safe. I can’t imagine what it would be like to feel like a prisoner in your own home because of your violent and abusive neighbours.
But to me this seems almost like one of those unsolvable problems, in that whatever solution we come up with, it throws up a whole new set of problems.
Let’s suppose housing chooses to evict these people. What then? They become homeless? Surely we can all recognise that this is just going to set up a whole new set of issues caused by these people.
So, maybe housing can move them somewhere else. Ok, so now we have a whole new set of neighbours to be terrorised. This isn’t solving the problem, it’s just shifting it somewhere else.
Maybe the police should do something then? Well, until a serious crime is committed, there probably isn’t a whole lot they can do. Screaming at your neighbours when they walk past is certainly anti-social, but it would be pretty hard to put someone up on charges over it, and even if you did charge them, the courts wouldn’t exactly see it as the crime of the century.
Someone mentioned having ‘layers’ of public housing, so that you get moved through the system to less desirable places. The best solution I can come up with is some sort of secured public housing, where the incorrigible public housing tenants would live under the supervision of housing authorities. It is an idea that would needed to be padded out, but I do think it would work better than the current system or the other options on the table.
@Gennalove – On a side note, did your neighbour and Jasper used to live in Griffith? I’m only asking because there used to be an old man there who had a beautiful tabby called Jasper that fits the exact description you made. He was one of the friendliest cats I’ve ever met and would always come up to say hello when you walked past.
Jethro said :
That they seldom face consequences due to it being ‘too hard’ or hiding behind protections meant for the vulnerable in society.
Jethro said :
The bull needs to be taken by the horns so to speak.
Jethro said :
A lot of the problems are because of generational problems. Providing these sorts with a place to live and income with little checks in place, doesn’t discourage families from making hell spawn after hell spawn to spread out and become problems on their own right. Throwing them out on the street would be considered heartless by some regardless of how many chances they’ve been given, people they’ve assaulted, cats they’ve thrown, break and enters they’ve done, houses they’ve trashed or swans they’ve made love to. There needs to be a line drawn that basically says ‘if you don’t want to live in society without causing problems, society isn’t going to pay your way.’ It would help somewhat in reducing the birth rate among them without dancing down the road to eugenic policy.
Jethro said :
Yes, It was me that referred to layers of housing support. I wouldn’t go with supervision as the end of the line for housing support but rather demountable in the middle of a field far out of town with no other residential houses nearby, blacklistings forced upon charities to prevent support, finger printing of family members and quarantined welfare payments. They don’t like it? Either get jobs to get into the private rental market and hope they’re not already on rental blacklists or behave and after a set period of time the restrictions would be eased.
That’s a large part of the problem, a lot of buck passing, ‘not my problem’, ‘we can’t do anything about x, it seems too minor’, ‘you can’t just do that, they don’t know any better’. On and on the excuses go without anyone actually dealing with the issue.
Jethro said :
We’ve already got that – The Alexander Maconochie Centre, and thanks to the Human Rights contingent it’s unsafe for both inmates and staff, and costs the ACT ratepayer an absolute fortune to maintain. Not only that, but these Human Rights lunatics actually allow the crims “conjugal visits”, so they can keep spawning more criminal scum even when they’re banged up.
What a load of crap. Who writes this rubbish?
If, as Gennalove says, all tenants except the young people in question are kind and gentle perhaps all could get together regularly and have little community type events involving all the people except the cat-throwing people that create a positive feeling and culture around the place (maybe even creating grass-roots gardens, art or architecture) that will either drive people who don’t fit in to the niceness away, or will encourage them to be more respectful of where they live. Power in numbers – but without the use of violence please.
well, the little treasure has pleaded not guilty…..
more to come i expect.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/crime-and-law/teen-accused-of-throwing-cat-off-balcony/2413794.aspx
i still feel sorry for the cat and his owner. if nothing else, the lowlife thrower should cough up for the vet bills.
carnardly said :
Should yes but the way society is today, won’t.
I’ve no doubt that feral has spun it in his mind that it was the cats fault he had to do what he did. Never his. The people around him would have the same opinion as well.
Even if he is punished (which I doubt) you’ll never get him to take responsibility.
I just hope the owner isn’t suffering any reprisals.
Of course the poor little thing isn’t guilty. He had a tough childhood, and now the world owes him, and owes him… he can keep using that for how long? Decades, I guess.
I tend to view this cat hurting oxygen thief like my Italian friend views dole bludging junkie Canberra bogans. “F***ing scum of earth BASTARDO’s”!
So if you plead not guilty, and are subsequently found to be guilty, isn’t the punishment harsher?
I suppose double the punishment of nothing, is still nothing, but there’s still hope.
Henry82 said :
I shudder to think of double the finger wagging.
I had reason to be at the Animal Emergency Centre, Fyshwick, over the holiday period and they had a sign on the counter asking for donations towards the care of “balcony cat”
Henry82 said :
So, he’ll get a 6 month good behaviour bond instead of 3 months, and it won’t be enforced anyway when he inevitably breaches its conditions.
Well, well, well. This horrible incident and the information that emerged from it about how scum can get away with making life a misery for their neighbours has roused the ACT Government into some kind of action. See the CT today:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/housing-cleanup/2443950.aspx
Whether it’s effective will depend on whether the government has closed all the loopholes these people exploit, and have the tribunal and law enforcement on the same page. If so, kudos to them.
EvanJames said :
Yay, more social workers – for that warm fuzzy feeling…….
EvanJames said :
This is not a response to this “particular” incident. DHCS have been seeking input on this issue for quite some time. The community was given the opportunity to provide input via a discussion paper.
http://the-riotact.com/your-thoughts-wanted-on-anti-social-public-housing-tenants/56862#comments
EvanJames said :
Good to see. Augmenting this solution should be to actually identify instances of illegal behaviour and prosecute these scumbags.
Gosh, the ACT Government is threatening drug dealers, brawlers, and criminals of all kinds with – wait for it – SOCIAL WORKERS!
On one level, that is an ugly threat. But for the decent people living in public housing whose lives are made a misery by thugs, I can’t see them dancing in the streets.
breda said :
Perhaps you could have voiced your opinion when DHCS were asking for community input. Don’t be fooled. Not all social workers are warm and fuzzy………as for “decent” people living in public housing, who should we whinge to about drug dealers, criminals of all kinds and brawlers who do not live in public housing……or is that a separate issue?
Violet68 said :
Refer it to the police, same as for public housing… It’s not hard.
VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :
Exactly. Yet whingers from all over are calling for a “different” response for “social housing”.