Legal position on dog killing/injuring a cat

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We have moved house and there seem to be a lot of cats around here. I have a greyhound who is most definitely not cat friendly. He is always muzzled when out on walks. Our garden is secure and when the weather is nice like today I would like to be able to open the patio doors so my dog and children can come and go freely.

If a cat should enter my garden and be injured or even killed by my dog where would we stand legally? It seems unfair to keep him muzzled in his own house on the off chance that one should be foolish enough to come into the garden. On the other hand apart from the awfulness of having a cat be injured or killed I do not want to risk that something happens and then find out that we could be prosecuted or my dog ordered to be put down. I've read conflicting things online.

I don't think you can be held responsible. I keep my cat in at night but I do worry during the day when the old girl goes for a wander as there are a lot of dogs in my street.

hmm, I would have thought that in your own secure garden the responsibility is on the cat owner. But that is an opinion, not a legal view!

I have a cat hating terrier and I don’t worry at all about letting him in the garden . I cant see how you could be held responsible , after all where does it stop - what if a cat walked into your house through the open door is your dog still at fault if it maims it .

Cats are canny creatures. If there's a big/unknown dog running around in a strange garden they're unlikely to go wandering there. They know very quickly whether a neighbour's garden is friendly/unfriendly.

I have a cat hating dog. The next door cat is always in our enclosed garden. Sitting on the shed and shitting in the beds. I am terrified that one day my dog will catch (and kill) this cat (he’s pretty agile and very fast - sighthound).
I’ve taken to loudly knocking on the back door before I let the dog out but when the weather is nice I’d like to leave the door open and really want to know what my position would be if the dog killed the cat.
I’d always assumed we’d liable as our dog is not ‘under control at all times’

I'm not sure, but I know that if you hit a cat with your car you don't have to report it (you do if you hit a dog). I think it's something to do with cats being roaming animals. So possibly a similar thing?

My parents have a dog that would definitely kill a cat. They keep the dog securely in the garden and the neighbours with cats are aware that the dog is not cat friendly. They are rural though so not as many neighbours.

It is not the same law as if the dog in your garden bit the postman, as the cat is legally property.

My terrier is fast enough to catch and maim a cat - but in her 12 years on this earth, the cats have always been faster.

She has come in looking pleased with herself with a bit of fluff on her lip, but she has never been able to get close enough to really harm one. This is a working terrier who killed rabbits, rats and mice for a living.

I suppose what I'm saying is, unless a cat is truly and irrevocably cornered, it can usually look after itself when it comes to a single dog, even if that dog is a killer and not a lumbering oaf.

My elderly cat was killed by a dog. The dog was loose and my cat in my front garden. 101 said no crime has been committed.

I worry about this, my terrior chases next doors cats and they are always in my garden, the dog being there doesn't seem to be deterring them. Like a PP i knock on the glasd door and loudly wriggle the door handle before letting him out, i have also positioned plant pots to make a kind of slalom trail he has to navigate to get to the back corner where they generally are shitting on my plants slows him down a bit! Not sure what else i can do..

We have a big dog in the house next door, neither of my cats went near it. One of them used to like mocking it from the safety of the shed roof but that was at far as it went.

It would probably lead to your dog being destroyed, whether on your property or not.

Jon65 - I don’t think that’s correct, can you share your source for that? Are you in the U.K.?
If the dog was out of control and not in enclosed, private property then possibly. Not in her own enclosed garden though.

Thanks for your thoughts. @Jon65 I would also be interested to know why you think he would be put down as this is one of my worries.

My understanding is that as cats are free-roaming, their owners tacitly accept that accidents may befall them. If a cat goes into a garden where there's a non-cat-friendly dog, then that's the chance it takes.

A dog on the loose in public area is a different matter, as is a dog attacking a person (even on private property).

DDA 1991 s 3 et al

Maybe ask the dog warden OP?

Hello, dealt with this numerous times.
You would have no legal obligation to anything. If your dog were to injure or kill a cat either in your garden, or even on the street.
The moral obligation - IMO is different.
I’ve recently cared for a cat that was used as a tug toy between two greyhounds. They paid for the full vets bill - but legally they didn’t have to, and don’t have to, or answer to anything.
It can be reported and investigated, but I’ve never heard of it ever go further. (Been a vet nurse for 7 years, involved in many unfortunately)

Jon, that refers to people or assistance dogs.

Nothing will happen OP. Seriously.

I have a whippet and am more than happy to have her free roaming the garden.

You're over thinking this.

I live in the country and I know there have been issues in the past with fox hunt hounds killing wandering cats, afaik, nobody has ever been prosecuted.

My neighbours dog killed my cat (he never leaves the garden, it's a dirt pit now the poor dog) It was the first she had ever been in their garden while the dog was out. It happens unfortunately. There is nothing that can be done about it as cats are free roaming. Dog is still about as are all the other dozens of cats in our neighbourhood.
Dogs are only considered dangerous if they attack other dogs or people. I'd let your dog out, you should still be able to enjoy use of your own garden.

@ChrisPrattsFace no it doesn't read it properly.

Keeping dogs under proper control.

(1)If a dog is dangerously out of control in[F1any place (whether or not][F2any place in England or Wales (whether or not a public place)]) —

(a)the owner; and

(b)if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog,

is guilty of an offence,

I think if a dog rips apart a cat it is out of control and the act specifically says whether in a public place or not. Op asked for a legal opinion. That is it. Sorry you don't like the answer.

Would that apply if it killed a wild rabbit?