My dog bit a cat 😪

[Bluetoybear]

Please be kind as I am so stressed over this.. name changed for this I have a 7 year old dog which is only walked on a lead 3 times a day in local park and let out in my back garden throughout the day for a wee etc. My back garden has a 6 foot fence around it so my dog can't get out. Yesterday the neighbours cat jumped into my garden and my dog ran after it and bit it on its leg. My neighbour has taken the poor cat to the vets and has had a big vets bill for it and neighbours husband has came round at tea time demanding I pay it all. He was very vocal about it and said if I don't pay it he will 'sue/take me to court/get in touch with authority's saying my dog is dangerous etc. I am so worried as the cat has awful injuries. I have offered to pay half out of goodwill but neighbours telling me I need to pay all of the bill which I can't afford.

Well if your dog attacked my cat I'd want it dead so I thinking asking for the bill is mild. But I'm a cat person 😀

@Northernlurker

Well if your dog attacked my cat I'd want it dead so I thinking asking for the bill is mild. But I'm a cat person 😀

What a dumb post.

Tsk dog people have no sense of humour

To be honest if he tries to take it further, I doubt he will have any luck. Here is something that may put your mind at ease...

www.justanswer.co.uk/law/8ghn5-dog-attacked-cat-garden-garden.html

Possibly to late for this. But. Don’t assume any liability. I recently saved a random cat in my garden from being attacked by a fox. How do they know that was not the case with their cat?

@sunshinesupermum

their cat should be insured and not in your garden

How do you prevent a cat entering a garden? Asking for a friend.

Sorry OP but I'm guessing the responsibility is all yours. [flowers}

I don't agree. Surely if you decide to get a cat you are fully aware and accepting that said cat will be wandering wherever it pleases and have to accept responsibility for whatever that brings.

It's one thing having to take responsibility for cleaning up cat shit left by other people's pets on your property but i don't see why we should then be responsible for any injuries they incur in our gardens also.

Please don't pay anything! The cat was in YOUR garden, totally not your responsibility

@LittleMissMe99

The dog could have the best insurance policy on earth but the insurer still won't pay out when there's no liability on their policyholder, just like in this case.

The dog was in its own property, protecting its own property from a furry intruder. Cats fault not your dogs. Tell ur neighbour to go fuck himself and prove it was your dog that bite his cat. If its an outside cat surely it comes across lots and lots of dogs. . . .

As a responsible dog owner, and previous cat owner. I don't believe that you are liable for any costs. Your dog was on it's own property, the cat was there of it's own volition! It's an unfortunate incident ... but that's it I'm afraid. I personally think it was incredibly good of you to offer to pay half. The cat should be insured. If the cat fell into your garden off the 6ft wall and had an accident you wouldn't be liable either, or if it ate a plant and was poisoned. The cat wasn't invited on your property. The cat was actually trespassing! Game over. I really hope you don't have too much fall out from this. I pity the poor cat, but your neighbours, as cat owners, should know the risks of having a free-roaming cat.

I don't think you're liable at all. When we viewed our current home the previous owners told us they had 'adopted' a local cat (owners live a few doors up). They would feed it, bring it into the house etc. We had a dog when we moved in, cat came crying at back door on the day we moved in and my dog went nuts! Obviously didn't let dog out for a while but if I had my dog would not have been liable. This is our home and it's the owners responsibility to look after it. The cat now seems to know when ddog is at daycare and is brave enough to come into the garden on those days- I just ignore it!
Animals are animals and my ddog sees the cat as a threat and will do what it thinks it should do- protect us. Also when I walk ddog a few cats have actually hissed/ gone for ddog even though he's been on a public path and on lead, so cats can be the aggressor.

Sorry that this happened OP.

I am a dog and a cat owner. I walk dogs for a living and am familiar with the relevant laws and regulations.

Rightly or wrongly the police and dog wardens will not take any action in this case because the injured animal was a cat.

They can and do take action if dogs injure people, even if that happens on the dog's owner's property. But that is not the case with cats.

Of course it was a very unfortunate event. Sadly dogs do chase cats, even lovely family dogs who would never harm a human and are very well trained are liable to chase cats. It can happen to any dog but in the case of terriers and sight hounds it is very common.

Really sad, but not your responsibility. My dog always chases cats in our garden - he’s just too slow to catch them. Stand your ground, your neighbor is just being a chancer and sounds horrible.

They can report you but nothing will come of it - cat lept into your garden with loose dog. Dog is allowed to be loose in it's own garden, cat is allowed to roam free, dog defended its territory like a dog will. It is an accident. Pet on pet attack isn't an offense which is why people who have their dogs attacked by other dogs have such a hard time getting anywhere. My sister had her rabbits, Guinea pigs and cat massacred in her garden when a neighbours dog cleared the fence and got into her garden. It was awful. Nothing happened to the dog or owner.

As a cat owner I wouldnt hold it against a neighbours dog for being a dog. Upset for my cat yes, but as cats have the right to roam free you should have it insured because they can and do get injured mostly by cars or dogs. Sounds like they haven't bothered with insurance and want you to cover the lot when honestly 50/50 is a reasonable offer. You could check your pet insurance if you have it as most dog insurance covers 3rd party injury.

You can't stop their cat wandering into your garden but they can (not let it out, secure their garden...) accidents happen and most cats aren't daft enough to jump into a garden with a dog in it!

@Northernlurker

Well if your dog attacked my cat I'd want it dead so I thinking asking for the bill is mild. But I'm a cat person 😀

Keep your cat indoors then.

Please do not worry, it wasn't your fault and isn't your dog's fault either. Even if an off lead dog attacks another dog in the street the authorities don't do anything, there is no way at all the authorities will do anything about this. I can understand you are upset, you would not want the cat to be hurt and you were kind to offer to pay half the vet fee. Perhaps your neighbours were in shock and worried about their cat when they had a go at you. Hopefully they will calm down and the cat will recover xx

@Bluetoybear

I have dog insurance but I think it only covers if my dog is sick etc and needs treatment.

Household insurance often covers third party liability, even by a dog e.g. if your dog runs into the road and causes an accident. However, if you are not liable, it won’t pay out.

Oh dear, I'm sorry OP, sounds like a dreadful situation. Like you I only ever walk my dog on the lead and we have a fully enclosed garden for him to roam. If a cat came in to our garden I could imagine the same thing happening to us. Our dog is so fantastic with people and other dogs but hates cats. It's not your fault that their cat came in to your property. They seem like incredibly unreasonable and inappropriate people by the way they've been handling the situation.

rosalie11
Erm it’s not “natural” for dogs to hate cats wtf I have two of these dogs which live with an 12yr old cat which bullies them!
Dogs can be trained, cats can to an extent

It’s not natural, but dogs need to be trained not to do it? Interesting logic.

Nothing will happen. A cat not belonging to you, came into your property. It shouldn't have been there. Dogs do what dogs do. While your neighbour will be upset with emotion as any of us would be at out pet being injured, it was on your property. He should have insurance for his cat, that's not your responsibility.

If you decide to pay half.... make sure you get him to make the vet invoice you DIRECTLY from their own email address not forwarded and edited from him. Or by post from the vet. He needs to give permission for this but it must come direct from the vet, no middle man.
Very kind of you to offer but had the cat been run over he wouldn't be able to claim from the driver either. It's HIS responsibility to INSURE his cat, not yours.

However he may be insured and is trying to pull a fast one. Get cash off you (I wouldn't do this), and still claim from insurance.
What's to stop him keep taking the cat to the vet and demanding money each time.... nothing. Anyone who comes round and DEMANDS payment through intimidation is lacking integrity in my book.

I wouldn't discuss it with him through spoken work, just through writing that can act as evidence.

Why not call the council yourself and ask where you stand or call the CAB Citizens Advice Bureau.
My dog would do the same, many many dogs would, it's instinct. It in no way means your dog is dangerous towards humans.

Don't pay a penny. Report here every step of rhe way so we can help you if your neighbour continues with him demands.

OP, you should send the neighbour a bill for the therapy your dog needs to get over this traumatic experience.

"neighbours husband has came round at tea time demanding I pay it all. He was very vocal about it and said if I don't pay it he will 'sue/take me to court/get in touch with authority's saying my dog is dangerous etc."

Nope. Not a penny. Their cat was on your property. Dogs chase cats. 🤷🏼‍♀️ If they choose to let their cat roam unsupervised, they are accepting the risk. If the cat got injured by a car would they track down the driver and demand they pay vets bills? What a ridiculous stroppy neighbour. Tell him to report you to anyone he feels like, they will laugh at him.

Absolutely do not pay their vet bill.
This is the risks owners take when they do not keep their cats as indoor pets. It was in your garden its entirely their responsibility.

Also keep a log of your neighbours threatening behaviours xx

Thank all of you for all your help and advice 💐💐💐💐..no more word from next door neighbours apart from every time they go into their back garden and I am out in mine (I have just been sitting in sun lounger reading my book and my dog is wandering in and out of the house..not barking or anything ) and next door male neighbour says very loudly 'BLOODY DOG!'..I have told my dog to take no notice of him ..I haven't seen anything of the cat.