What do you think should happen ?

[Oddcat]

My friend's cat has been killed by a grey hound , which is awful. The greyhound was on a lead but apparently lunged for the cat before the owner could react . Obviously, it's been posted in FB and people are baying for the dog to be PTS.

My friend is talking about reporting it to the police to get the owner prosecuted.

What do you think the police will do? Will they have the dog PTS ?

I don't think the dog will be put to sleep as it's not gone for a human. I know it's bad that it's killed a cat but their prey drive is extremely high in that type of breed and the owner should of been keeping an eye out. So it's more of the owners fault than the dogs. If it went to court they would more than likely be fined and the dog would have to be muzzled when out being walked. But I doubt the court would push for it to be pts.

Highly doubtful that the police will bother. The law on cats is different to dogs as they cannot be 'controlled' - if the dog was on a lead & the cat crossed its path, likely the cat owners will be told tough shit i'm afraid. A bull terrier round here killed a cat that came into its garden - you can imagine the uproar with him being the breed he was. All sorts of hogwash about controlling pets - the police basically said the dog wasn't at fault because it was in its own garden & the cat strayed.

It's very sad all round , I guess the dog owner will be blamed but if it hadn't shown any signs of chasing small furries before maybe the owner didn't realise it would this time .

There are two houses on my road who take part in a greyhound fostering scheme for elderly greyhounds, administered by a national charity. They foster them for their remaining lives so we get an ever-changing stream of greyhounds being walked on lead around the lanes numerous times a day.
In the 5 years I've been here I've never seen a greyhound being walked without a muzzle, so presumably this is best advice.
(The ladies who do this are really dedicated, one of them has fenced in 1/3rd of an acre with 6ft fences and cut back any overhanging trees to discourage squirrels so that the greyhounds can have a little free roaming time. They are utterly spoilt.)

Awful situation for the cat owner, but I really can't see this becoming a matter for the police or criminal courts unless the greyhound owner encouraged the dog to go after the cat.

Greyhounds are known for being fast enough to catch cats, and other animals. That's the reason why some are muzzled - because of their prey drive. Presumably Chilli's neighbours muzzle all their greyhounds because they're new and unassessed.

It may be that the greyhound in question hadn't shown a strong prey drive before but this cat shot out in front of him and it was an unusual situation. I would expect the dog to be muzzled when out from now on, but PTS would be extreme (overkill....) when it comes to preventing a reoccurrence and won't bring the unfortunate cat back.

The police won't have the dog put down, but it would be sensible for it to be muzzled.

Apparently the police have told them to persue it as a civil matter , which is what they are going to do. I know it's sad but I do think it's a bit ott - I'm sure the dog owner is just as shocked and hopefully will now muzzle the dog.

Wasting their money. Unless they can prove without doubt that the owner set the dog on the cat its an unfortunate incident

Does the greyhound owner have third party liability insurance? It's typically included in pet insurance or with Dogs Trust membership.

If necessary, the lawyers at www.doglaw.co.uk are meant to be excellent. They've some info on civil claims against dog owners for damages here www.doglaw.co.uk/damage-claims/ They do some very reasonably priced phone advice sessions too.

I'm no lawyer, but I wonder what the cat owners would be claiming for. Domestic moggies (who have little financial value) and vets fees? If there's no third party liability insurance I'd be thinking about trying to settle out of court.

I don't know about the dog owners insurance , Reading the FB posts im not even sure the incident was witnessed by anyone other than the dog owner- they're asking if any neighbours have cctv.