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..

Your poor cat. I'm so sorry.
My mum has lost two cats to dog attacks. Off lead dogs getting into her garden. It was horrific.

Now is not the time to have to read folk wang on about roaming cats and the rights and wrongs of it. You've lost a beloved family member to a brutal end and are devastated.

Poor wee cat. What horrible way to die. But I don’t think there’s any way your neighbour could have known this would happen. I’m sure they’d rather it hadn’t. Unfortunately if you let your cat out to roam, you increase the chance of something bad happening to them. I wish I had £1 for every cat I know that either has three legs or one eye. Often both.

A real shame about your cat but as it was in their garden, where the dog is entitled to be, it isn't their fault.

I am so sorry for your loss OP.
I do think that the people who have the lurcher should have warned you. Your cat was probably used to going in their garden, and so wasn’t as wary. Lurchers often kill cats, and they are extremely fast. Not a great dog for an elderly couple I feel, as they often have a high prey drive. My friend’s rescue lurcher regularly killed rabbits and also killed a cat. She muzzled it after that.
I expect they thought your cat would keep away, but it all probably happened too quickly for that.
A neighbour’s cat regularly comes into my garden, and if I was getting a dog known to kill smaller animals then I would warn the owner.

It really does not, especially with dogs with high prey drives such as greyhounds.
They are not aggressive dogs, and one that has gone for a cat is not going to work its way up to killing child.

The digs were in their own garden -no reason to suppose their owners couldn't 'manage' them. They weren't wandering freely round the neighbourhood, while the car was.
It was a horrible thing to happen, but the dogs owners were not responsible for a cat coming into their garden.

They’re not high energy dogs. They’re essentially couch potatoes capable of doing 30 to 40 miles an hour. The older couple could have got themselves little Jack Russell and the outcome could have been the same.

Just realised the comment I thought hadn’t posted earlier, did actually post! So deleting this second one.

Dogs minds don’t work like that , my late dog would happily have killed a cat / rodent as he was a patterdale terrier x with a huge prey drive but he was also the friendliest dog with people - he could tell the difference quite easily .

Hmm until it does.

Or at least, until it goes for a farm animal and gets shot.

However, I agree that you can't have a go at someone if your cat was effectively trespassing in the dog's garden.

Not very likely a farm animal would come into the garden, is it? And no indication the dog is inappropriately off lead.

Mine never went for farm animals.
My grandfather had a JRT that was a prolific ratter. He never killed anything bigger than that.

My friends dog killed a cat that got
into their garden … unfortunately it’s private property , and although she was extremely apologetic to the neighbours
, thr law as it were was on her side .
It’s very unusual though , as cats are usually faster and much more agile than dogs , was your cat elderly or injured ? My dog wouldn’t be able to catch a cat despite chasing nextdoors anytime he sees it .
Im sorry for your loss , losing any pet is heartbreaking 💔 x

I’m really sorry about your cat, but there was always a chance it could come unstuck like this. It’s a risk you take when having an outdoor cat.

I’m really sorry that must have been so traumatic for you 💔

It’s not their job to tell you about the decisions they make regarding pet ownership. If you don’t want your cat to be injured by a dog in the dogs own garden, then get a house cat.

OP I’m sorry for your loss. I understand the need to attribute blame, but it’s just a sad accident.
I’ve had sighthounds and cats (at the same time) and those hounds have ignored outside cats coming into the garden and even my house. I didn’t though. I grabbed them and took them to their owners. Explaining that my hounds had the speed (when awake!) to catch and kill.

You’d be surprised to learn the reaction from the cat owners was that I was being dramatic!

Current hound is a scaredy one so has also ignored cats- again I shoo them away. He has killed a pheasant in the garden though.

He’s a dog and he can kill, he’s fast and he can catch prey. But he’s not vicious in the slightest.

There are some bizarre comments on this by people. Sighthounds are not high energy. They are fast, they enjoy fast bursts. Sighthounds are mostly asleep. In fact they are described as cat like.

Dogs who kill prey, are not going to graduate to mauling children. Most dogs can catch prey of some sort. Very few bite people.

The cats however, killed lots of prey in their lifetimes. All manner bells had to be bought to warn birds, voles, mice and frogs. They also swiped the odd child!

Sorry about your cat

it’s a risk that exists for cats though I’m afraid.

Lurchers don’t need lots of exercise so that is irrelevant. I am sorry for your loss but this is a risk with having an outdoor cat. I have 2 dogs. They would kill a cat if it came into my garden. Unfortunately there is not a lot I can do about that.
I also have 3 indoor cats. My dogs and my cats are segregated within the house

I’m sorry about your cat OP but, realistically they can’t keep their dog out of their garden so that your cat can go in it.

I'm sorry that you lost your cat in such a horrible way, but any free range rabbit/ guinea pig/chick/duckling in the area could have been killed by your free range cat. It's what animals do. It isn't reasonable to blame your neighbour's dog when your cat was in his garden I'm afraid.

I'm so sorry about your cat. Losing a pet is the worst.

If the cat was in their garden, then there probably isn't much you can say. You can't reasonably expect them to warn you that their own dog is going to be in their own garden.

Many years ago (80s) we had a neighbour (three doors down) who had NINE cats and they pretty much lived in our garden. In the summer when we had the garden doors open they'd walk right into our house. Luckily we didn't have any dogs when I was a child, but how would they have been expected to react if we did have any?

So sorry that this happened to you. Unfortunately a dog will defend its territory, and a cat will roam. It's the nature of both of those animals and sadly it didn't end well this time.

Your neighbours shouldn't have to tell you when the dog is outside though. Your cat could roam anywhere, and meet any number of dogs or other dangers.

It is so upsetting and I am so very sorry but honestly, I think it's one of those things, and a risk we take when owning animals x

As someone who has owned a free roaming cat, and also a greyhound (at separate points in time), I think this is just a very unfortunate incident. When you allow a pet cat to roam, you hope they won't come to any harm, but are aware that it could be a possibility. It could be a dog, a car, or any number of other things. I'm so sorry about your poor cat, but i dont think you can expect your neighbours to have done anything different really.

As others have pointed out lurchers, like other sighthounds, have surprisingly low exercise needs generally. They are usually absolute couch potatoes. As such they can actually be very good pets for people who can't walk them miles. Prey drive is another thing.