To think you should not allow your dog to chase squirrels?

[lillypond75]

Because it causes distress to a wild animal! I said to my friend to put their dog on a lead and she looked at me like I was mad. Apparently it's fine as their dog is unlikely to catch it, but that's hardly the point imo.

@IDreamOfLogCabins

I saw a dog catch and kill one too - owner wasn't bothered in the slightest

Same as a lot of the people on this thread about all the wildlife their cats have killed, then...

Most seem to be pissed off about the mess caused by all the blood and guts, but not bothered about the distress caused to the animal (because that's 'just what cats do').

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3213297-to-be-pissed-off-with-my-cat

It’s a squirrel though. Not a human being!

What would you do with a rat in your house?

I'm always surprised by all the claims that cats kill birds. Birds can fly. Cats cannot. Cats are well fed by their owners.

When I see a cat watching the birds I just think "dream on mate".

They may get the odd injured bird, but in general I think most birds are killed by other birds. Or, in my locality, by flying into windows.

Disclaimer: I've never had a cat.

I’ve had several. Rarely did they get a bird. Over 25 years of ownership. The male cats really couldn’t be bothered. The one female cat we had did catch mice and shrews and one day, yes, a squirrel. We don’t have cats now and our dog died 18 months ago. He caught a chicken that had escaped and was on our road. Ditto a duck. And the odd pheasant and rabbit. But we live in the countryside and all of these are plentiful. The duck survived and went back to the pond. Foxes got all the ducks in the end. As they would if they found a chicken wandering about.

A child is a savage until a responsible owner("parent")tames it and brings it under control. Do not use the excuse that a dog can't be controlled.KEEP THEM ON SHORT LEADS AT ALL TIMES IN PUBLIC SPACES!!The sight of a dog catching a squirrel in a public place is totally unacceptable and would traumatise most people as well as being a despicable and cruel act.

The dog is out of control in that situation and that's obviously a huge danger. She also shouldn't expect the dog will never catch it as my large tabby cat has killed several grey squirrels. Will her dog react in the same way to a cat?
There are quite a lot of mink around a local pond now and dog owners have had to be warned about how dangerous they can be.