To tell the neighbours the cat isn’t my problem

[Miniminxymoo]

We have neighbours who own a cat. The cat is a bit of a pain in the backside and continually came in our garden. Obviously, we couldn’t stop it and it treated our garden as its own causing some damage to toys and crapping in the flower beds.

We have recently got a lab from a rescue who, as we quickly discovered, doesn’t like cats. As soon as we brought our dog home and let it in the garden it immediately chased this cat down. The dog didn’t catch the cat and is likely never going to but likes to terrify the cat. Thankfully, the cat seems to be trying its luck a little less and our garden isn’t suffering so much mess and damage. Most of the other houses have had dogs for a fair while so cat hasn’t gone into the other gardens, ours was the only one it went into because of the dogs.

The neighbours have now complained that they are worried that my dog is going to harm their cat and possibly kill it. Now, as I’ve said, the dog is likely never to catch the cat and my garden is very secure so will never escape. The neighbours have said they will charge us for any vet bills if their cat gets injured and they will complain to the council.

neighbours have also said that if the cat is in my garden then I shouldn’t let the dog out for a pee. The issue is, I often don’t see the cat before I let her out.

My dog is pretty chilled, never any bother in any other way other than when the cat comes in.

AIBU to tell the neighbours that it isn’t my problem if their cat is scared. It’s my garden and my dog’s home and if they have an issue then they’re the ones who should keep their animal in? I’ve suggested for them to put rubber spikes or similar on their fence to hopefully prevent the cat, who is a twat, coming in but they have said the expense to do that should be on me and they don’t like to do things like that!

👍🏻

Sounds like a stupid cat and even stupider neighbors.

You can absolutely not be held legally responsible for your dog injuring a cat on your property.

If you're bothered enough, pay a solicitor to write to your neighbors explaining their legal position.

not in the OP's own properly secured garden. Lets say neighbours expensive watch ends up in OP's lawn and the mower goes over it. OP had no control over its being there and did not know it was there......I mean yes you could make a claim but I can't see it going anywhere....same if the property is a cat...OP had no control over its being there and was unaware that it was there.

Honestly the cat won't visit often, it'll learn quickly but talk about entitled cat owners being so dramatic. (I say as a cat owner) They are probably annoyed it's going in their garden now rather than yours!
😜

You sound very uptight. OP has stated her dog is very well behaved, does not, has never chased animals out in public. The dog reacts to a cat coming into her own private back garden. That’s not weird or aggressive, that’s normal dog behaviour. I genuinely don’t understand your reaction over this. You seem very anxious.

Do you really think a dog chasing a cat in its' own garden is being badly behaved?

The cat will just stop going into your garden. Cats aren’t stupid. You have every right to let your own dog enjoy your garden!

my neighbor lets his bloody dog run free - I get mad when it comes into my garden and chases my cat. But have no issues if the dog is in his own garden (my cat now completely avoids that garden!).

Exactly how long have you practicing law? And what discipline are you practicing in?

God, some people just take a piss to see what they can get away with. Or have just one brain cell. Reminds me of a neighbour of mine - she was stuck in her car on our street once because of someone unloading something, I was pushing a pram on a narrow pavement and when I got next to her she started to scream at me and said that I am going to damage her car with a pram and she will send me the bill. (I was not, and I would not be able to get to my house in any other way due to the narrowness of the road). It took me a lot of effort to just say, in as few words as possible and in as calm tone as possible, “I am not damaging your car”. You could also just say - my dog will have full use of my garden. Or simply “No”.

I think a dog that chases cats every time they access the garden are a PITA yes. Especially ones that are not doing it due to prey drive (as the OP says). They can be fairly easily trained to stop IME.

We have 2 cats.

Our neighbours have a dog that runs out into its garden and our cats just get out of the way. I think they still go in the garden. Cats are usually faster than a dog over 20m.

If they are worried they should get a cat fence topper fitted on their side.

They are just being ridiculous

I work in family law. I am merely saying given my own experiences of batshittery professionally, and knowing from here that neighbours can be the worst offenders, I would protect myself and my dog. How about you?

I agree with you OP and I voted that YANBU but not sure why you posted? Just for validation on your viewpoint? Some suggested you could keep your dog on a lead to check for cat. You said you weren't going to do that. Every sugestion you've said no. Yes it's your garden but as kitten season is approaching I would hope your dog wouldn't chase down and hurt a pregnant or nursing mum or young kittens . It's a balance between being considerate to other animals and doing whatever you like in your own garden.🤷‍♀️ I say this as someone who fosters cats/kittens for a small charity. Your neighbours cat will soon learn but don't start a war with your neighbours over this. Every stupid thing they ask of you be reasonable & calm.

I’m a cat person but your neighbour is batshit. The cat will learn not to go into the other garden (probably already has as cats are pretty savvy). And cat will learn to sit on the wall and preen and wind up the dog (like mine do).

my batshit old neighbours asked me if I could train my cat not to step along the wall as their dog used to go ballistic. I was a bit as I’m assuming they’ve never owned or tried to train an actual real life cat!

Why is a dog chasing an intruding cat in its' own being a PITA, though? I genuinely don't understand why it's such a problem.

My dog lives with three cats and doesn't chase them. They share food, sleep together and cuddle together quite happily. But when we get intruder cats in the garden, he absolutely will chase them. Though, if they stand their ground or come back again, he will soon get used to them and treat them like "his own".

Dogs are predators. Cats are their prey. It's natural behaviour. Yes, it may technically be trainable but I personally haven't bothered to train it out of mine and don't see the need to. I want him to alert me to anything new or strange in my garden, for starters.

Haven’t read the full thread but your neighbours are entitled arseholes. DH is severely allergic to cats and unfortunately there are loads around here. When cocktail sticks in flowerbeds
didn’t work we got a dog. If she frightens a cat in her own garden, that is absolutely reasonable. The neighbours have chosen to have a pet that they allow out to roam. It can be hit by cars, fall out of trees or find out the hard way what happens when it goes into a dog’s territory. This is not your problem. I’d be telling them to fuck off!

Yes I agree it would be hard to prove if it happened in your own garden

I like cats. I have one.

But if it comes in your garden, it takes its chances. Your neighbours are being ridiculous.

“neighbours have also said that if the cat is in my garden then I shouldn’t let the dog out for a pee. ”

Whaaaat? Your garden, you will use it as you see fit. If THEIR cat encroaches on YOUR garden, their problem. As for “they will charge us for any vet bills if their cat gets injured” - CF to the max! It’s hardly negligence if your dog is prowling the confines of its own domain, and their cat happens to be there.

I can understand if you live away from others and have confidently trained your dog to alert you, without being at risk of harming anyone that your dog can be really useful. But a dog in a built up area that does this due to a lack of training, and as OP says does this continually whilst presumably making a racket, I wouldn't class as a well behaved dog.

The cat will stop coming into your garden. I would be reasonable and block any holes to make the cats entry to the garden harder, but it will stop coming by its own accord once it knows the dog is there!

We have a rescue dog, exact same situation, the cats realise very quickly it’s not a good idea to cross the garden! Your neighbors are being a bit precious. I’d preserve the peace by being polite and reasonable!

So, you’re a family lawyer?

me? I wouldn’t give a shit about the neighbours threats. Cats should be contained in my opinion.

I have cats and your garden for your dog is not the neighbours to make rules about.

I do hate people who walk their dogs without a lead and who let their dogs chase my cats into our garden…the dogs follow into OUR garden to chase the cats. We had one dog follow the cat right to the cat flap while the owner was losing their tiny mind trying to recall. If dog doesn’t recall well…keep it on the lead!

Your garden, your dog, your rules. Though probably best to do whatever you can to make sure no cats are harmed as that would be traumatic for you all. Don’t take special measures though.

First reply nails it 100%!

How can a dog harm someone in a locked, secure garden?

We live in a tiny little terrace. The vast majority of our neighbours have either dogs or cats (most have both). Nobody has any issue with dogs in the garden who bark occasionally at a car, or someone walking past the gates, or yes, a cat who's decided to wander through.

Dogs aren't robots - they are animals and they should, within reason, be allowed to behave as such. I'm off work this week and we have our backdoor open so our dog has free range of the locked, secure garden. Our cats are free to roam and wander round the neighbourhood too. We've never had any issues in the decade we've lived here.

It's not like the dog is running around in public causing a nuisance, it's locked in a secure garden and "warning" the intruder cat off. That's normal.