'So I started slinging it': Redford Township woman caught throwing poop at neighbor's yard

After a years-long neighborly dispute, it hit the fan in Redford Township on Sunday. Or, rather, it hit the neighbor's yard.

A woman was recorded by her neighbors in Redford Township throwing animal feces across the street toward their yard, a move Mark Dellamora, the 42-year-old homeowner whose camera recorded the event, suspects was done in retaliation for his family putting out food and water for strays in the area.

The woman pictured in the video, Denise Hardy, said the cats attracted by the food and water have been using her yard as "a dumping zone to poop" for a few years now, and she's tired of it.

"So I started slinging it across the street," Hardy said. "The cats are ruining our lawn. They defecate and they scratch up our yard."

After some confrontations between himself and Hardy, Dellamora said he eventually took the food bowl off of his porch, leaving only a bowl of water. It's been that way for about the last two years, he said.

Hardy says this hasn't stopped the cats.

"Just last night, I saw one on their porch drinking water from that bowl," she said.

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After the recorded incident on Sunday, Dellamora said he considered a legal approach to stopping it, but ultimately he doesn't want to go down that road.

"I'd rather not spend the time and money on that," Dellamora said. "I just don't want feces flying through the air at my house."

Dellamora understands — and respects — the pursuit of keeping a tidy yard, he said.

"Don't get me wrong, they have an immaculate yard and they take good care of it, but it's happening in their yard and they have garbage cans in their yard. It's just a part of owning a home."

And he doesn't think the poop in their yard has anything to do with the bowl of water on their front porch.

"I keep up on my yard just as well as they do," Dellamora said. "And I almost never find animal feces except for what appears in the road in front of my house."

But Hardy said that cats are creatures of habit. "They know our yard is their dumping zone," she said. "It's very much a mess and very stinky."

Hardy said she's upset to be portrayed as a vindictive neighbor.

"I am a very nice lady," Hardy said. "I am not mean and do not have anger management problems. I am just so frustrated with this."

She hopes it can all be resolved. Hardy said she will be purchasing a motion-activated sprinkler system to deter the cats.

"And I guess I have to stop the poop-slinging," she added.

News reporter Liam Rappleye can be reached at LRappleye@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'So I started slinging it': Redford Township woman caught throwing poop at neighbor's yard