AIBU to think neighbours should have warned me about their dog?

[CaraMP01]

My cat has been killed by a neighbour's dog in their garden. We are a row of 11 houses and the cat roames, helping to keep the rodent population down and generally being sweet and lovely. They've had the dog for 2 months..it's a lurcher and has a high prey drive. They are infirm and fairly elderly. The dog needs massive amounts of exercise and although it has a sizeable garden ( 50ft ) I think they struggle to exercise it sufficiently. AIBU for thinking that they ought to have warned me, and I could have made an informed decision about letting her out, and getting such a dog, knowing that there are lovely neighbourhood cats around that may be seen as prey?.. i am very upset..

I'm sorry for your cat- that must have been horrific.

But as the owner, you alone are responsible for your cat. You can't control other people, only your own actions.

I’m sorry about your cat it must be very upsetting.

However I think you’re painting a bit of a false narrative about the community minded cat keeping the rodent population down. In reality your cat will be killing birds and crapping in people’s gardens.

Also lurchers are surprisingly lazy and do not need “massive amounts” of exercise. They do have a high prey drive though but as it was in its owners garden which is absolutely their right I don’t think they are obligated to tell people. I have never warned mine and I have let him scare off cats in our garden because I don’t want their crap in my flower beds.

I am so sorry about your cat. Unfortunately if your cat had come into my garden when my greyhound is out she would probably have killed it too as she has an extremely high prey drive. I never let my dog out without checking for cats and making noise to try and scare any away that might be hiding. I would be devastated if she caught one but unfortunately that’s the risk with cats that roam.

If they had warned you would you have stopped letting your cat out?

There is nothing in the OP to suggest that the owners cannot or are not managing their dog. Lurchers and greyhounds are wonderful pets for older people.

The neighbours presumably knew OP had a cat already.

Totally agree. Some people are vile.
I’m sorry OP- this is awful for you but not sure what the answer is. I would hope my neighbours would warn me if they had a dog they knew was likely to attack cats.

Why presumably?

We get lots of neighbourhood cats in our garden. I haven't got the faintest idea who any of them belong to.

I'm sorry to hear about your cat.
But even before I had a dog I had no interest in having neighbour's cats coming into my garden under an excuse that they are keeping the rodent population down. I have to be honest it didn't occur to me to tell my neighbours 3 years ago that I had got a dog. We have a cat that still insists on visiting. My dog chases it. I have no idea where the cat comes from as it doesn't belong to either of the people who live next door.

Why was it a vile response?

I agree it wasn't the most empathetic but @YeOldeGreyhound raised a fair point with what she said.

They could have put a muzzle on their dog before it roamed their garden but not much else could have prevented this happening. Rescue greyhounds are used to having been muzzled so it may be easier for them to continue although they may learn to live with cats.

I’m sorry you’ve lost your cat OP, it must be very upsetting and a horrible thing to experience.

You say that had you known about the dog you would have re-thought the risk, but the fact is that you should have considered this risk even without the knowledge. You made a decision to get a pet and you made the decision that everyone around you would need to put up with your pet roaming on their property. You knew that while roaming your pet would encounter cars, toxic plants, spaces not made pet safe, other cats who might fight them, dogs in other people’s property and even potentially cruel human beings. You decided to accept that risk and let your cat roam free. Your neighbours don’t hold any responsibility for those decisions.

My sisters lurcher was the same. Quick mad sprint then it was done. After about 20 minutes it would start nudging your leg to turn round and come home.

I’m sorry about your cat

however it’s highly likely there are dogs in other gardens and your cat will have avoided those gardens - for some reason your cat didn’t this time and the dog did what dogs do

my dog doesn’t have a high prey drive but he won’t tolerate other animals in his garden. The local cats all walk along the top of the fence and give him a withering look but we have never had one come in

Sorry for you loss.

what would you have done if you’d known about the dog though?

do all your neighbours want your cat in their gardens?? They’re a nuisance to us. Fed up of cleaning up poop. We have those sensors now but not sure they always work.

the cat entered the dogs garden - so it’s a risk I think of owning a cat.

It’s very unfortunate and sad for your cat but this is the risk that cat owners take when they choose to let their pets roam . Please don’t try to dress it up that your cat was enhancing the neighbourhood controlling vermin when in reality most non cat owners do not want other people’s cats in their gardens .

What would you have done differently if you had been warned?

That's ridiculous! Why muzzle your dog in your own garden on the off chance there is a cat & won't escape in time.

A better suggestion is don't let your cats roam if you don't want them killed by dogs or cars or whatever.

I'm sorry for the loss of your cat.

However, this is not the fault of your neighbours or their dog. When you allow your cat to free roam, preying on animals themselves, you have to accept that they may also be preyed on.

The dog was where it should have been, contained safely in it's property. It is you who did not have your pet under your control and therefore you that is responsible for it meeting it's subsequent demise.

Sorry for your loss, I understand why you are feeling this way towards your neighbours right now but it’s not their fault. Time will probably give you some perspective. I’ve noticed an antagonist I’ve come across on other threads is being unpleasant so buckle up and don’t let it get you down 💪. Sorry again about your poor cat ❤️

It’s a pretty small row of houses, they had probably seen it coming and going. They must have been able to identify it as belonging to OP in order to tell her what had happened.

Why on earth would they muzzle their dog in its' own secure garden?

Might be part of the reason they bought the dog.

I am very sorry you lost your beloved cat.
But you do know that cats have an extremely high prey drive and are responsible for massive impacts on bird populations, right?
Your cat did not just kill rodents by any stretch of the imagination.
Did you warn the local bird population when you moved your cat into the neighbourhood?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/14/cats-kill-birds-wildlife-keep-indoors

This comment is bizarre. If this dog had such a high prey drive to kill a cat do you think it’s not killing rodents, birds, squirrels etc that come into the garden too?

The dog isn't a greyhound. So I'm not sure why you think its an ex-racing, used to being muzzled, greyhound.

Our lurcher hates a muzzle as it rubs his bony nose and hurts him.