cat saves child from dog attack

[ender]

BBC news Does anyone know what breed the dog is? Am really shocked at how deliberately it went for the boy, completely unprovoked.

[Catsmamma]

I came in to say similar about the dog, it's really "hunting", and I wonder if the child had something interesting in his pocket


I do get the feeling it's a tad set up though....mainly because you get the footage of the dog approaching the car which you wouldn't if she was randomly videoing the child on his bike.

And yay for Super cat, he really sees off that dog!

My very first cat did similar to a Yorkshire terrier who used to be allowed to roam...dog never came back in our driveway!

[ender]

I think its CCTV, not someone videoing.
Was surprised by the dog attacking the boy like that, not so much by the cat's behaviour. I've got 2 big dogs and cat often wades in and sorts them out when their play fighting gets too noisy.

[Lilcamper]

It's an 8 month old lab x chow. I think possibly the dog and the cat have a history of winding each other up, the dog sees movement under the car, goes round the back expecting to see the cat, goes almost past the child and full of adrenaline when the cat isn't there, goes for the nearest moving thing that smells of the cat, unfortunately it's the child.

[ender]

Lilcamper that makes sense, I find it hard to believe that the dog deliberately stalked and attacked the child.

[Lilcamper]

Another possibility is that the mother mentioned that the child is on the spectrum. Perhaps his movements were seen as unusual/frightening by the dog. Either way, the dog should never have been wandering loose and I very much doubt he was properly socialised and/or trained.

[moosemama]

It's called aggression redirection. The dog couldn't get the cat so turned on the nearest thing. This is usually only seen with dog that already have significant behavioural issues ie, already aggressive under certain circumstances. It's most often seen in dogs that are being walked on the lead, but are aggressive to other dogs, so when they can't get to the other dog, they redirect onto their owner or whoever is holding the lead and bite them instead.

Very scary to watch that footage, as the dog doesn't appear aggressive as it approaches the child.

I had a pet cat as a child that would attack my mum if she raised a hand to me. He was awesome.

[GerundTheBehemoth]

According to this story the owner of the dog reported that it didn't like bikes, or children.

[ender]

So the dog was only 8 months old, still a pup. Looked more like an older dog the way it was calmly heading towards the boy. Really shocking remembering how playful my lab was at that age. And they were proper bites, not just nips.

[CEvert]

Mine would most likely be too scared to chase it away.
They would stand from a distance and bark or cry in distress.

[MrsMaturin]

I can't watch the footage at work but nothing surprises me about cats.

All the cats I've known have been very conscious of who was in their family and protective of them. Mine gets v upset when my daughters are away.

[Catsmamma]

yes, I got dh to watch it after....it seemed so weird to have the whole scenario and dh said it was likely cctv, i never even thought of that tbh...

That cat still rocks though! ...I also saw a bit on the news, with the cat and the boy, real pals!!

[MrsMaturin]

I've watched it now - wow the cat really charges in! Hero cat Poor dog though - it's behaviour is very troubling.

[crispyporkbelly]

Poor child must have been so scared, thank goodness for that moggy!

[AnnoyingOrange]

That cat was amazing

[youbethemummylion]

Love the way the cat seemed to look back at the boy to check he was ok before carrying on after the dog. I would like to think my cat would do similar but in reality she would probably look on whilst wondering what was for tea.

[MothershipG]

I'm glad someone posted this. When I saw the clip on Breakfast news I was so shocked by the behaviour of the dog I hardly noticed what the cat did. It was sort of a bite and a drag, it really looks like he is treating the child as prey! Very worrying.