Last week our little cat went missing. We searched the neighborhood, called the animal hospitals and even went to the humane shelter, but couldn’t locate her.

Then I remembered a foreclosed house across the street that had a pool. Our neighbors had had issues with this property before because the pool was a mosquito breeding ground and attracted frogs that could be heard all over the neighborhood.

They had reported the situation, and supposedly it had been cleaned up and we didn’t think anymore about it. I don’t know what made me decide to go over there, but I did and I found [my cat] drowned in that pool. (We later discovered that she wasn’t the only victim; another cat had drowned only a few days before.)

Someone had removed the cover and there was three or four feet of nasty water in the deep end, creating a death trap that no child or small creature could escape.

The slope was so slick that even an adult could not climb out without assistance. On a street where children regularly play, there were gaps in the fence and no lock on the gate.

Needless to say we were extremely upset. We immediately contacted the Realtor who put the blame on a home inspector, but didn’t have an excuse for not checking on the property.

We also called the mayor’s office and he had code enforcement personnel in the area within minutes, and the next day the pool was covered, the fence fixed and the gate locked.

Nothing will bring back our precious pet or take away the pain we now live with everyday, but hopefully this death trap won’t claim any more victims.

So please, if you have a vacant property in your neighborhood, especially if it has a pool, you need to check it out and contact someone if there are dangerous or unsafe conditions. More and more of these situations are arising due to foreclosures and people abandoning properties they can no longer afford.

Just being aware of what’s in your neighborhood may keep a child or another pet from dying needlessly.

L. Coyne

Peachtree City, Ga.