Dog attacked our cat

[LeftInTheDust]

A dog from the neighbourhood attacked and badly injured our beloved pet cat.

Our cat is a healthy, 9 year old neutered male who is a lovely cat. In recent weeks he had been a target for something, three weeks ago he was taken to the emergency vets as he had been injured (he had a cut to his neck and he was fine) then last week he came home and half his whiskers had been cut off (we think by drunk people as it was over the bank holiday weekend). This afternoon it got taken to a new level (whilst we don’t think they are the same people we do think the whiskers impacted this event as it affected his decision making).

It was just me and my 16 year old sister in the house and she started screaming for me to come down and when I did she told me to look out the window. What I saw will stay with me for the rest of my life, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get it out of my mind. This dog that was easily half the size of me (I’m 5”7) and it had our cat in his teeth mauling him like a ragdoll. I genuinely thought that he was going to tear our boy limb from limb.

The owner eventually prized away our cat who ran up the tree. The event was witnessed by us and some neighbours over our road and they helped us coax him down. We were in shock and it was the neighbours who helped us (neither of us can drive and both my parents were at work) so they took the cat and me to the vet. They also managed to speak to the owner as I was in such a state whilst my sister tried to contact our parents.

The cat has serious injuries, that apparently were quite rare. He has a dislocated sternum and liquid in his abdomen. At one point we thought the cat was going to be put down but we were sent to a specialist who has given us a better prognosis, although if he survives it’s going to be life altering injuries.

We are now going to have to keep him inside (we have other cats so this is gonna be a nightmare) and he’s going to have to have more surgery to try and put a plate in his sternum. Oh and he has kidney damage. This will all be covered by the insurance.

The issue we have is reporting it. We have the owners contact details and we will be contacting him but we have also logged a police report. Obviously we will try with compensation but the main issue is that the owner is blaming our cat.

We live opposite woods and the owners claim that our cat went into the woods and antagonised the dog and she went chasing after our cat. However, we have eye witnesses that dispute this claim (we don’t really know these neighbours so it’s not like they are lying for us) that our cat was actually sunbathing on our drive and this dog appeared out of the woods and ran up and attacked him. But of course the dog owner says it was our cat that made the first move.

Do you think it’s worth reporting it to the RSPCA? According to other neighbours (who all came out after hearing our “bloodcurdling” screams) said that their dogs (if not the same one) have attacked and killed foxes and then the same dog attacked another dog in the road. Now I don’t think it’s fair for the dog to be destroyed but the big fear is what’s next? A child? Does anyone have any advice on what todo about contacting the RSPCA? We’ve already stated on the police report we want the dog on the lead and muzzled the whole time, but it’s unlikely that the dog owners will do that as she was roaming freely around the area. It’s unlikely that the claim will be taken anywhere but something needs to change because we don’t want other families to go through the same thing as it was traumatic so does anyone have any advice as to what to-do/ who to contact?

Your poor cat, how frightening, he sounds safer kept indoors when hes better. I dont know how much the RSPCA can do, you might be better calling the local council dog warden, you can find this online.

Hi, thank you for the reply. Yes he’s going to be kept in now, it’s really sad though because he loves being outside but there’s no way we will let him or now. I’ve looked on my local areas website and it only states about stray and lost dogs, do you still think it’s worth contacting them?

I don’t think there’s much you can do if your cat was wandering about. If it was definitely attacked on your driveway then it might be different though. It’s one of the risks you take by allowing cats to roam.

Your poor cat

Yes do. It's on the Gov. UK site under Controlling Your Dog in Public

Definitely contact the dog warden and the police, dogs by law should be under control at all times and it clearly wasn't. It doesn't matter what your cat was doing they were not in control of the dog, and as you say it could be worse next time. I hope your cat is ok

Yes we have a number of unrelated people collaborating the story that he was lying on our driveway and that the attack was unprovoked. He’s a much loved cat by the whole neighbourhood- our previous neighbours had even set up a fb page for pictures of him... Yes we have decided that we definitely will because this cannot be allowed to happen again. It clearly is a hunting dog and it needs to be in a proper environment. We are going to the vets in an hour to find out what is happening with him.

Hope he is feeling better

I wouldnt contact the dog owners. Let police and warden do this.

How awful!! My cats are house cats because of the scary things like this I hear. I really dont understand some people, I've got a dog too and he lives with cats but I would still never allow him to go up to a cat in the street. I take it this dog wasnt even on a lead? Hope your cat recovers well and you get some sort of justice x

Poor cat. Hope he improves.

You can get chip controlled catflaps that read the cat's chip. You can set them to work for different cats, both in and out, so the other cats can still come and go.

Honestly there is not much you can do. A dog chasing a cat is instinct, it doesn't necessary fall under dangerous dog. You may be able to get a control order on the dog but if they say the cat was in the woods, then its unlikely.

And there is no correlation between dogs chasing cats and then attacking a child.

Thank you everyone for your advice. Picked him up from the vets about an hour ago and spoke to them. The vet said that he is very lucky and that the fluid cleared and the ribs and sternum may heal itself so we are watching and waiting. The vet also said she (nor any of the other vets) have never seen an attack this bad and he is very lucky to be alive with the injuries he received and that they could have been a lot worse. They are also very worried about the dog involved because he’s been trained they think and they have said that they are worried that the dog will attack a child.

My dad did call the RSPCA without us knowing and they echoed the thoughts of the vet and we are contacting the dog warden now. The cat is going in for more pain relief this afternoon but thank you for the advice.

And there is no correlation between dogs chasing cats and then attacking a child.

Do you have evidence for this claim? The OP’s vet seems to disagree with you.

Family Vets are not great behaviourists. Its well known in my field that unfortunately some vets do not give out great behavioural advice.

The main evidence is that a dog attacking a cat is not a criminal offence, whereas dog attacking a person is. It all comes down to what is an innate behaviour for a dog.

A dogs basic instinct is to chase. Cats, squirrels, leaves etc. A dog catching and killing a squirrel is not then going to target children.

It is not a dogs instinct to attack a person/child. That is either through lack of socialisation/training, fear, pain or medical reasons.

Now, if this dog was deliberately set on the cat, or the owners did not care enough to intervene, then this dog may be more likely to attack a child simply because he/she does not have responsible owners who would have socialised and trained it properly.

But there are no studies to prove that a dog chasing a cat is then going to turn on a person. There are a (very) few studies that correlate dog/dog aggression with dog/human aggression, again, because of poor ownership and upbringing - not because of 'taste for blood'

In regards to onlead/muzzled - I have issued a few Dog Control Orders/Community Proteciton Notices on dogs who have repeatedly chased and injured/killed cats but need evidence (not anecdotal) and in these circumstances the cats were in their front/back gardens.

The dogs owner could argue that there is no way they could have expected the cat to be in the woods. If you have witnesses saying the cat was on your driveway, that will help.

It really comes down to the intention and behaviour of the dog’s owner. The dog is by law deemed to be behaving naturally but if the owner is careless or malicious in respect of controlling their dog then they may well be prosecuted. However, most councils/police will state this is a civil matter.

But there are no studies to prove that a dog chasing a cat is then going to turn on a person.

That’s not what you said though.

You said there is no correlation between dogs chasing cats and then attacking a child. Not that there are no studies.

We are trying to get a dangerous dog order in place because it was terrifying and the dog was deemed out of control. We genuinely thought that if we left the house he would come and attack us. The owner stood their watching until we started shouting it our window to get him to stop. As I said before we are VERY lucky that it wasn’t worse and he hasn’t died. According to our local council dogs have to be on a lead at all times....

The cat was sitting peacefully in our drive on our property. It’s not like we are asking the dog to be destroyed we are asking it to be kept on a lead and muzzled. The RSPCA has said that this is learned behaviour which is troubling and we are wanting the police to take it further. My dad has knowledge of this system and what they can do. It’s unsafe

The cat was sitting peacefully in our drive on our property. It’s not like we are asking the dog to be destroyed we are asking it to be kept on a lead and muzzled. The RSPCA has said that this is learned behaviour which is troubling

I love animals, but that dog needs to be put down. If it's learned behaviour then the owners cannot possibly be trusted to keep the dog muzzled and leashes.

Even so, they claim your cat started it, despite this happening on your drive. It shows a complete lack and disregard for the law applicable to them as dog owners.

I'd push for the dog to be put down. It's sad for the dog, but truth of the matter is that the owners ruined the poor animal.

Left How would the RSPCA know this is learnt behaviour if they didn't witness it?
Its also is subjective, you think it is a danger to children because it is a big dog. If a greyhound or a terrier had caused the attack, would you be as worried?

The options for orders are a court ordered dog control order, or a CPN/ABC etc which is really only used for repeat offenders.
The police may do a Community Remedy whereby the dogs owner agrees to keep the dog on a lead/muzzled in public. CRs are not enforceable but breach can be used as evidence for further actions should any further incidents occur.
It is highly unlikely the police will seize the dog for a DD assessment in these circumstances and go down the Sect 3 DDA route.

The police/courts need to decide if:

a) The dog saw a cat and chased it. Completely natural behaviour and a devastating and unfortunate incident.
or
b)The dog was allowed to chase and injure the cat. The dog and owners behaviour was such that he may pose a risk to the wider public.

The cat didn’t provoke the dog- it wasn’t even in the woods. The dog wouldn’t have seen the cat if it had run off due to the layout of the area. The dog had run off the track and in the cul de sac and he spotted my cat and went for him. This was, in no way, my cats fault.

Half the family think that and the other half think it should be kept alive. Our cat is suffering life limiting injuries because he won’t be allowed out for months- if at all. This animal needs to be stopped somehow. I love animals but this is dangerous. Had this been any of our other cats they would be dead as they are either a lot smaller or older than the injured cat.

LochJessMonster, obviously they weren’t there but we described the attack in detail. We have also written witness statements. The dog was bigger than a small child and it could have easily ripped the cat apart. It is dangerous, obviously each dog is different and I don’t think it’s fair to generalise breeds. A few years ago I had a close friends dog was attacked by another and he lost an eye. I’m not trying to generalise breeds.

As I mentioned earlier the vet told us that this was the worst attack she, or anyone at the practise and this was including a specialist cat thoracic vet, had ever seen (she wasn’t a freshly qualified vet either. She’s been in it a few years as she told us) our cat is currently in our living room, unable to be picked up or walk up or downstairs with a very bruised stomach, high on methadone but is clearly still in pain. This dog needs to be stopped somehow so that no one else has this..

I’m sorry for your cat but unless it was attacked on your property or some other private property that the dog should not have been on then I don’t think complaining to anybody will get you anywhere . It’s nit a case if your cat not provoking the dog , some dogs chase cats in the same way that cats kill birds / mice etc it’s nature . Unless the owner actually caught your cat and then threw it to the dog I don’t see how it’s the owners fault . For those people saying it’s a dangerous dog and could attack a child , yes it may be but on the evidence of attacking a cat that’s a massive leap . My terrier would happily kill a cat ( given the chance) but he would never attack a person because he’s not stupid and knows that people and cats are different . In the same way as a cat will kill a bird but won’t generally grab a human by the throat .

In the same way as a cat will kill a bird but won’t generally grab a human by the throat .

You don't think that the relative size of human v cat has something to do with that then?

Cat to small child would probably relative to Jack Russell to small child

Many small dogs attack children so I'm not sure what your point is really.