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I'm sure that was very traumatic for her. I'm sure many would say re-home the dog to a no-cat home.
We once had a neighbor whose dog allegedly was a cat killer. He jumped into our yard and went after our crafty orange tabby. Orange tabby ran him into the gigantic mass of pricker bushes mixed with raspberries that grew in the woods. I don't recall any more intrusions.
Good for your cat!
The trouble with rehoming is you never know who is going to live next door or if they are going to get a pet who will be at risk by a dog who likes to kill things. There have been MANY threads on cats who kill birds in neighborhoods and how incensed people get about it. If you can't guarantee an animal who is aggressive will never have contact with the object of their aggression, there is no "re-home" available that is safe for those unlucky enough to live near this pet.
I agree that cats should stay indoors. But not everyone agrees with me. Just like you, I can't control what my neighbors do with their pets.
So your dog is leashed in your yard even when they go out to the bathroom? There is no possible way they would every get out? Absolutely none?
And how would my neighbors being irresponsible pet owners be my fault?
And yes, my dog is on a leash whenever he is outisde, even when he goes out to the bathroom. The exception being if I take him to the dog park or another fenced in area.
And no, there is no possible way that he would get out. He is trained to not bolt out the door. He is 8 years old, I've had him since he was 5 months old. Not once has he ever tried to run outside when I've opened the door. He knows to sit patiently at the door to get his leash on before he goes outside.
Because it just doesn't make sense to keep an animal like that around. Why risk it when there are plenty of other animals who need homes who have not demonstrated this behavior? Let's say you were a neighbor of the owner with a beloved cat who one day escaped. This "second chance" dog kills your sweetie in savage fashion. Did any one consult YOU that this animal was moving in? I bet not. Are you now traumatized? I bet so. Is it your fault? No.
Unless an animal is either completely and totally isolated from any stimulus that would cause it to repeat behavior and can be guaranteed as such for life, why would you risk the pets of others? I certainly would not want to live next door, down the street or anywhere close to a dog like this if I had pets of my own or small kids. Stop thinking about the dog for a minute and consider that most of us live in proximity to one another and we ALSO might have pets or kids we cherish. In that context, this dog's life is certainly far less important.
There are leash laws in most states, so it is highly unlikely that this dog would be off-leash and able to kill a wandering cat, especially with a caregiver who is aware of its history. In fact, a wandering cat is more likely to get hit by a car or killed by coyotes. Should we therefore outlaw cars and kill all of the coyotes?
Your suggestion that this dog will absolutely kill again is alarmist, as are your other claims that this dog must be "completely and totally isolated from any stimulus" or that the dog is going to attack people and their pets because it killed one cat once.
In fact, most attacks on children occur via family dogs, just as the OP's cat was killed by a dog in the home (as opposed to a neighbor's dog):
Three quarters of dogs involved in bite incidents belong to the victim's family or a friend.
The majority of dog attacks (61%) happen at home or in a familiar place.
When a child less than 4 years old is the victim, the family dog was the attacker half the time (47%), and the attack almost always happened in the family home.
If you can't guarantee an animal who is aggressive will never have contact with the object of their aggression, there is no "re-home" available that is safe for those unlucky enough to live near this pet.
Its very easy to rehome a dog to a house that doesn't have cats. Not everyone wants cats, and there are also many people who don't want multiple pets.
Do we really need bird dogs? Greyhound racing? NO. Dogs continue to be bred for this because people are vain and silly.
What is silly or vain about using flock guardians? Using a dog to hunt or retrieve game? To herd and control livestock? For search and rescue or to search for hidden felons? To sniff out explosives in airports? These are all jobs that dogs can do much better than humans or most technology. The traits these breeds happen to have are common in many other breeds that don't necessarily work for their living. Many of these traits are also tied closely to traits we want in pets....eagerness to please their owners, devotion, protection, and sociability.
You seem to see this issue in black and white but it just isn't that simple. Do I put more blame on the owner than the dog in the OP? Yes. Accidents do happen but again the dog didn't kill the cat out of spite or an evil nature and no one can convince me otherwise.
There are leash laws in most states, so it is highly unlikely that this dog would be off-leash and able to kill a wandering cat, especially with a caregiver who is aware of its history. In fact, a wandering cat is more likely to get hit by a car or killed by coyotes. Should we therefore outlaw cars and kill all of the coyotes?
Your suggestion that this dog will absolutely kill again isalarmist, as are your other claims that this dog must be "completely and totally isolated from any stimulus" or that the dog is going to attack people and their pets because it killed one cat once.
In fact, most attacks on children occur via family dogs, just as the OP's cat was killed by a dog in the home (as opposed to a neighbor's dog):
Three quarters of dogs involved in bite incidents belong to the victim's family or a friend.
The majority of dog attacks (61%) happen at home or in a familiar place.
When a child less than 4 years old is the victim, the family dog was the attacker half the time (47%), and the attack almost always happened in the family home.
Again, does the law require a dog on a leash in a fenced back yard?
Do you not think a cat can jump a fence?
And the stats are great and all that but what we are talking about here is putting others at risk. So let's say you adopt this killing dog and bring it into your home instead of euthanizing it. And now we have stats that show us that dogs attack the familiar. Didn't you just put your family and pets at risk but bringing a dog into your house with a history of aggression? Isn't "at home" where most of these attacks happen? And isn't "in your neighborhood" a familiar place now that the dog lives there? So didn't you just invite more risk into your life?
We are gonna have to agree to disagree. Dogs are not sacred. If they kill other living creatures out of the blue, I believe in thinning the herd.
What is silly or vain about using flock guardians? Using a dog to hunt or retrieve game? To herd and control livestock? For search and rescue or to search for hidden felons? To sniff out explosives in airports? These are all jobs that dogs can do much better than humans or most technology. The traits these breeds happen to have are common in many other breeds that don't necessarily work for their living. Many of these traits are also tied closely to traits we want in pets....eagerness to please their owners, devotion, protection, and sociability.
You seem to see this issue in black and white but it just isn't that simple. Do I put more blame on the owner than the dog in the OP? Yes. Accidents do happen but again the dog didn't kill the cat out of spite or an evil nature and no one can convince me otherwise.
Sigh. We certainly don't need AS MANY dogs with these skills as are bred. My neighbor has a sheep dog which I can guarantee has never been around a sheep in its life. I do not believe in breeding dogs. I really really don't. There is no point in arguing.
You can't change my mind. Others responded what they would do. I responded what I would do. Simple as that.
Ah, so thats what it is! You just don't like dogs, so of course you believe they should all be killed.
Not at all. I am staunchly against the dog breeding "industry" and think it should be illegal to own any pet that is not spayed or neutered. There are way too many dogs euthanized each day when people insist on designer puppies who are hopelessly inbred and not used for the "work" they are bred for. But everyone seems to ignore this.
OP, I have a really high prey drive dog. Cats, rabbits and other small mammals are not safe around her, but we have three dogs, and I have fostered more than a dozen dogs over the last 3-4 years and have had no problems with her and other dogs. On the plus side, we have never had a rat or mouse infestation, on the down side, she has killed a cat (got inside my fenced yard). You, the owner, have a responsibility to keep the dog contained or leashed for the safety of other cats (and the dog too, quite frankly), but I would not put a dog down or re-home a dog for being a predator. Your friend has other cats, and is concerned for their safety, so re-homing in this instance is probably warranted, but the friend needs to be quite clear that this dog is NOT good with cats!
Last edited by Tuck's Dad; 07-12-2017 at 04:58 PM..
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