Escaped dogs have just killed my neighbours cat

[clarkkentsglasses]

Bit outing but I am so shaken up and feel physically sick.

Just witnessed the most horrific thing I have ever seen.

My dog started barking really badly, 2 dogs outside barking.

Eventually after a few mins I look out the window and there is horrific screaming.

2 escaped dogs attacking my neighbours cat. They killed it :(

I am shaking. It’s the most traumatic thing I have ever seen. Police uselsss.

Nobody knows where these dogs came from.

I don’t think I’ll ever let my dog off the lead again :(

There is no doubt in my mind these dogs would've killed a child.

[Goldbar]

If your dog or other pet is killed or injured by another dog, please don't put up with the owner going on about it being "nature's way" or any such nonsense .

It's a crime for a dog to be dangerously out-of-control and the court may order the dog to be destroyed. So get the owner's details, take pictures and get details of any witnesses. Also, if your dog is killed or injured, you can bring a claim in the small claims court for compensation. The most important thing is to get the owner's details...or at least take a picture if they're refusing to give their details so you can try to identify them later. Ask a passer-by to help if you're too upset.

[SpiderinaWingMirror]

I doubt there is a legal responsibility. I know of a case where one neighbour had a rescue dog lurcher type that escapee and cornered a cat and killed it. They were horrified. Paid neighbours vet bill. Their insurers said there was no legal liability and refused to reimburse them!

[UpToSomeMalarkey]

I'm so sorry, what an awful thing to happen, your poor neighbour

[Ughmaybenot]

Aww @Goldbar 😭 this hurt my heart!!
It was incredibly upsetting, not least because I actually tried to run out into our garden with a stick to rescue them

[Cheeseandlobster]

@AnnieSnap

I can’t believe so many posters are responding to this by saying cats kill other animals! What is wrong with you? This poor woman and the others concerned just witnessed something horrific and really traumatic 🤷‍♀️

This. The lack of empathy on this thread is frankly astonishing. Seeing something like this is incredibly traumatising. My dog was attacked once and I never got over it.

[Shallwegoforawalk]

There is no doubt in my mind these dogs would've killed a child.

I'm sorry you witnessed this but this statement is ridiculous. Dogs chase cats like cats chase and kill birds and mice. Instinct.

Dog on cat, just like dog on dog fights, are absolutely no indication of their potential for harming humans. Nearly every single dog has been socialised to have bite retention around humans, which is why the occasional attacks on humans are so well publicised in the press as they are very rare compared to the millions and millions of dogs in this country.

Again I'm sorry you're shaken up. Dog Warden should deal with this.

[icedcoffees]

It's horrific and it must have been absolutely awful to witness

But it doesn't mean the dogs are bad or aggressive - they were just following their instincts. Most dogs are bred to chase and kill small furry things - and unfortunately cats love to run, and therefore dogs love to chase them. Out on walks, my dog will ignore cats who just sit still, but if they bolt across the road front of him, he automatically goes to chase them.

He even caught and killed a wild rabbit on a walk once!

[MysteriesOfTheOrganism]

Our dog was attacked a few weeks ago by a large dog - it was on a leash but the owner lost control. Fortunately we managed to beat it off and our dog was physically unharmed, although she's still not fully recovered from the shock. A week later the same dog killed a neighbour's dog. The police are looking to arrest the owner (she's gone into hiding), and the dog is likely to be put down.

[Goldbar]

@Ughmaybenot. Yes, I can still remember it now. As well as losing my pet, I got a telling-off for putting myself in danger, "no animal is worth it" etc. But at least the owner didn't try to minimise what her dogs had done. She came and apologised to my parents and me which helped a bit (she actually rehomed the dogs soon afterwards as she was finding them too much). If she'd waffled on about "nature" and "natural instinct", I probably would have hit her with the stick rather than the dogs (I had a temper as a child)!

[Goldbar]

@icedcoffees. Well, surely the onus on you is to control your pet if he's in a situation where he's likely to chase animals.

[icedcoffees]

[quote Goldbar]@icedcoffees. Well, surely the onus on you is to control your pet if he's in a situation where he's likely to chase animals.[/quote]
Of course. I don't think I ever suggested otherwise?

Mine lives with cats with no issues, btw, but a cat outside the home is a very different scenario to a cat he's been raised with.

Anyway - my point was that a dog that chases cats is just following its' instincts - it's in their DNA to chase small, furry things that run, just like it's a cats' instinct to chase and hunt mice and birds.

While it's horrific to see and obviously absolutely awful for everyone , it still doesn't mean they're dangerous, bad, aggressive or need to be put down or whatever else people have suggested.

[Smashingspinster]

I am so sorry OP. As a pet owner I feel for you and your neighbour. Whatever the ins and outs of cat ownership, there were two out of control dogs on the loose. I think you deserve to know what the outcome was in terms of taking action against the owners.

[TSSDNCOP]

Let me see if I've got this right.

Some cats kill birds/rodents ergo get over the fact this particular cat was just taking one for all cats as it was savaged by two out of control dogs.

[TSSDNCOP]

still doesn't mean they're dangerous, bad, aggressive or need to be put down or whatever else

Would you agree that a robust line of questioning would be appropriate first to rule that out?

[icedcoffees]

@TSSDNCOP

Let me see if I've got this right.

Some cats kill birds/rodents ergo get over the fact this particular cat was just taking one for all cats as it was savaged by two out of control dogs.

I don't think anyone has said that at all.

They're just saying that the dogs are following their instincts, just in the same way cats are.

Yes, the dogs should have been under control and on leads (nobody is saying otherwise) but the fact that the dogs killed this cat doesn't make them dangerous or aggressive.

[aModernClassic]

I can't believe all the heartless and sick comments about cats not being important enough to feel empathy for because some kill wildlife. We're talking about someone's beloved pet.

And from reading some of the comments it appears to happen quite often. I hope your beloved pets doesn't get attacked and you have to witness this barbaric act. Shame on you!

[icedcoffees]

@TSSDNCOP

still doesn't mean they're dangerous, bad, aggressive or need to be put down or whatever else

Would you agree that a robust line of questioning would be appropriate first to rule that out?

What kind of questioning are you referring to, exactly?

I don't believe a dog who kills a cat should be put down, no. I say that as a dog and cat owner. An order to say it has to be leashed or muzzled in public, perhaps, but even that I think is over-the-top.

At present, the dangerous dogs act relates to dog aggression towards people, not other dogs or cats. Unless the dog bit a person at the same time as it hurt the cat, the police and dog warden wouldn't do anything.

[icedcoffees]

It's a crime for a dog to be dangerously out-of-control and the court may order the dog to be destroyed.

It is a crime for a dog to be dangerously out of control, but that relates to dog on human aggression, not dog-on-dgog aggression.

A dog won't be destroyed because it killed another dog - it's a civil matter, not a criminal one.

It sounds harsh (and I'm not saying I agree) but that's what the law says. The police aren't interested on dog on dog attacks.

[Moonface123]

Yes, horrendous comments.
I am so glad l was raised to love and respect all animals , and my sons are the same. Our menagerie of pets mean the world to us, they add something special to our lives and are a great education.
I can only imagine how distressing this must have been, and feel deeply for you having to witness it and the poor cat and it's owners. The responsibility lies with the owner of the dogs and l hope they are brought to account.

[tangone]

So people think that cats deserve to be killed by pet dogs because they kill smaller wild animals? Presumably foxes deserve to be killed by hounds as well then?

[clarkkentsglasses]

@Shallwegoforawalk

There is no doubt in my mind these dogs would've killed a child.

I'm sorry you witnessed this but this statement is ridiculous. Dogs chase cats like cats chase and kill birds and mice. Instinct.

Dog on cat, just like dog on dog fights, are absolutely no indication of their potential for harming humans. Nearly every single dog has been socialised to have bite retention around humans, which is why the occasional attacks on humans are so well publicised in the press as they are very rare compared to the millions and millions of dogs in this country.

Again I'm sorry you're shaken up. Dog Warden should deal with this.

This wasn't chasing. The dogs were running in and out of traffic, barking and aggressive towards humans. It wasn't just the cat

I've since learned both dogs have been seized

[clarkkentsglasses]

@icedcoffees

It's horrific and it must have been absolutely awful to witness

But it doesn't mean the dogs are bad or aggressive - they were just following their instincts. Most dogs are bred to chase and kill small furry things - and unfortunately cats love to run, and therefore dogs love to chase them. Out on walks, my dog will ignore cats who just sit still, but if they bolt across the road front of him, he automatically goes to chase them.

He even caught and killed a wild rabbit on a walk once!

But why did the dogs escape? Hardly responsible owners :(

[icedcoffees]

@tangone

So people think that cats deserve to be killed by pet dogs because they kill smaller wild animals? Presumably foxes deserve to be killed by hounds as well then?

I don't think anyone on this thread have said they deserve it.

They're saying that, for the dogs, it's instinctual, in the same way that it's instinctual for cats to chase mice and birds. A dog following its' instincts is not a bad dog - it's a badly trained/out of control dog. They're not the same thing.

[Plumtree391]

There's a pecking order with animals. The dogs were only following their instincts. They will chase rabbits and foxes, a dog near me once leaped over two back garden fences (including mine when I had a lower one), chasing a fox which, would you believe, he eventually caught!

My cats have caught mice, the odd rat, a squirrel, a large gold coloured fish, birds and frogs; one even brought in a stag beetle from the garden and put it on the stairs! I managed to knock it into a mug and put it back outside (my husband was scared of it :-)). However they liked the foxes and hedgehogs.

Crows have sat on my fence making aggressive noises at one of my cats who fled indoors.

They are all animals, we can't blame them for hunting.

The two dogs in this scenario escaped from their house or garden and obviously the owners have to keep them more secure in future.

[Shamoo]

@RandomMess - genuine question as to why it’s not criminal damage if dangerous and out of control? Would clearly meet the recklessness threshold. Is there a specific exclusion?

(And I realise the question of whether the police would treat it as such is a different one, but on the definition of the law why not?)