Cat owner in France must pay neighbour €100 after pet enters property
The neighbour had been claiming several thousands euros
Rémi, the ginger tom laying indoors, photo credit: Dominique Valdès
The saga of Rémi, a ginger tom from the town of Agde near Montpellier, whose neighbourhood adventures have gripped France for more than two years, has reached a new chapter — with a judge ruling that you cannot stop a cat from being a cat.
Rémi had been accused by the neighbour of repeatedly entering his garden, using it as a lavatory, and on one occasion urinating on a duvet cover inside the house.
The tribunal civil de Béziers ruled this week that Dominique Valdès, Rémi’s 65 year-old owner, must pay her neighbour €100 in damages. The neighbour had reportedly been claiming €5,700.
The sum represents a great reduction from what her neighbour has been seeking, after he demanded that previously imposed daily fines (astreintes) be paid in full, claiming Rémi had continued to leap the wall separating their two properties.
Ms Valdés was ordered in January 2025 to pay €450 in damages, along with €800 in legal costs, and to prevent the cat from trespassing or face a penalty of €30 for every day it did.
The difficulty in identifying Rémi
However, the court found that photographs presented at a hearing in February did not confirm “with certainty” that the cat in question was always Rémi.
A complicating factor was that the neighbourhood is home to other cats of similar appearance, meaning the court can not be confident that every intrusion caught on camera was Rémi. The fine was therefore reduced to €100.
Additionally, the judge went further, declining to impose new fines, as preventing the behaviour was simply not possible without “resorting to measures liable to harm the cat’s wellbeing”. The court also noted that roaming is “inherent to the nature of the cat and beyond the reasonably expected control of its owner.”
That said, the ruling does not let Ms Valdès entirely off the hook. The judge said that she remains under an obligation to try to stop the intrusions, and that her neighbour retains the right to bring fresh legal action if the situation continues.
