Dog kills cat who came in to its yard - council investigating

[BDJ]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-26/sunshine-coast-council-investigates-dog-killing-cat/101570120

 

I saw this today.

 

Surely unless there are mitigating circumstances (previous history of attacks or disturbances etc , dog lunging and barking at passersby, totally unsuitable fences etc) then the dog owners having nothing to answer to (in my opinion).   The cat was in the dogs yard - full stop.    

 

Some dogs simply aren't ok with small furry critters.   If it is secured and in it's own yard (and managed appropriately when it is not in its yard), then I am not sure what the problem is.

Slightly more nuanced (again my thought) that it was in the front yard rather than the back yard, but still in its own yard

 

The victim is the cat.   Horrible way to go.

 

Interesting to know what others think.

[persephone]

Terribly sad for the family - awful way to go for the cat, but dog and its owners did nothing wrong in my books . 

[Kazm]

Awful situation. But if the dog was in its own yard then…… 

[sandgrubber]

Cats shouldn't roam free.  More get killed by cars than dogs and many get wounded in cat fights.  Do we fine drivers who run over cats?  Or cats that fight?

 

Not to mention the way cats routinely kill native animals and owners are never held responsible.

[Papillon Kisses]

This is terribly sad. And I am sick of irresponsible cat owners and the councils and state governments that pander to them. However, I do think it taking place in an unfenced front yard makes both parties irresponsible. I think a dangerous dog order should be imposed to compel the dog owner to keep them leashed and muzzled when not contained. And I hope the cat owner will keep any future cats on leash or in an catio when outside.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Papillon Kisses

[Loving my Oldies]

I'm with PK.  The front yard was unfenced, so there are some points to investigate IMO.  I can only assume, of course, but it is likely the dog has seen the cat many times, so I wonder what prompted this attack?

 

Whatever the outcome, this is a horrible situation for both families and they have to continue to live next door to each other.

 

[Kazm]

LMO, we were in a similar situation many years ago. But the difference was that the neighbours dog, a Rottweiler, attacked our cat who was in our yard. We got her to the vets but she passed away anyway. We had been friends with these neighbours but that came to an abrupt end. They were certainly not taking any responsibilities. We just avoided them from that point on and as they were renters they didn’t stay too long. But, yes, not a nice situation. 

[~Anne~]

What a horrible thing to happen. That poor cat and the traumatising outcomes for anyone involved. Nature is a beast and animals, including dogs, obey the laws of nature more strongly than they do the laws of our society.

 

 

The quotes from the owner lead me to believe the cat owner doesn't seem to recognise that you can allow your cat to have fresh air and they don't have to be inside your home 24/7 - just like owning a dog it takes a commitment but it is achievable. Dogs owners build fences to keep their dogs contained. Cat owners need to build cat runs or install cat appropriate fencing so their cats can move freely outside. 

 

As for the night time idea - cats kills wildlife day and night. Locking them up at night may help some, but only some...

 

[tdierikx]

@Papillon Kisses has the right point made here... the attack happened in an UNFENCED front yard.

 

I'm not a fan of cats roaming wherever they please - especially if that means they come onto my property. I don't have cats by choice (mainly due to allergies), and really don't want to share someone else's cat. Please, if you want to get a pet, please keep your pet contained to your own yard, or have it on a lead when not on your own property at the very least.

 

As for this particular attack, one should be asking why the dog was loose in an unfenced front yard too. Both pet owners bear some responsibility for this tragic outcome IMHO.

 

T.

Edited October 27, 2022 by tdierikx

[Amazetl]

I don’t know the exact laws regarding dogs off leash in front yards but I thought that if they are outside without a fence they do need to be on a leash. A lot of areas cats aren’t allowed outside either so the both of them shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

 

My dog was once attacked while going for an on leash walk by a dog who was off leash in their front yard. Unless there is a fence that can contain the dog they shouldn’t be in the front yard. And cats shouldn’t be roaming either for multiple reasons. This shouldn’t have happened and now a poor cat has died and a dog has been let down by its owners by being allowed to be in that situation and now potentially will be in trouble.

[Kazm]

Where we live now the neighbours have a cat and when we moved in I noticed that it was frequently in our yard. Not a big fan as we have our Lucy cat who just turned 13 and we don’t want her in any cat fights and also didn’t want Molly picking on it either. We have 6 ft high fences all round and I know Lucy could jump if she wanted to but she is more than content to stay in the yard. If she goes in the front yard with us she disappears straight back inside. She is mostly indoors or her favourite spot is on a chair on our patio. She’s not a very energetic girl any more. And is always inside by the time the sun goes down. One day mid winter Lucy was lying under a shrub near the patio when the neighbours cat came over, it must have walked straight past Lucy. Next thing I knew was Lucy giving chase which alerted Molly who also gave chase. I made the cat get safely back to is yard but it hasn’t returned since. I think the 3 of us must have totally scared the poor thing but it got the message thank goodness.  Smart puss. 
I know a lot of people don’t like cats and particularly don’t like them roaming but a dog should not be unsupervised in an unfenced front yard either. I personally think both owners are at fault.