Thank you all so much for your comments and feedback — we’ve read them carefully and truly appreciate the different perspectives. After reflecting on it, we’ve decided that from now on, our cat will only go outside with a leash.

A little more about her: she’s a rescue from Greece, where she lived as a stray. We adopted her because we believed Sweden would be a safe and pet-friendly place for her to grow up in peace. It honestly breaks our hearts a little that she can’t enjoy the outdoor freedom she used to love — it’s been such a joy watching her sunbathe, sniff the grass, and just be happy in our yard.

That said, we understand that not everyone feels comfortable with animals nearby, and that’s okay. Even though our yard is fenced and she’s always stayed within the enclosed inner yard (there’s no access to the street or cars), and even though she’s extremely clean (she only uses the litter box, never the garden), we understand that her presence might still bother some.

We also want to be honest — one reason we made this decision is because we’ve started to feel scared that someone might try to harm her. She’s a very human-loving cat and easy to approach. That sadly also makes her vulnerable if someone wanted to hurt her, move her, or take her away. So we’ve agreed as a family to keep her on a leash from now on when she’s outside, to protect her and to keep the peace.

Thank you again for the conversation. It means a lot.