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Personally, I would put the dog down if they did this. I would just be sick over it and could never look at the animal the same way.
I had a friend who adopted a shelter dog of a controversial breed which will not be named for fear of that whole discussion starting that lived peacefully with a cat for several years. She came home one day to carnage. Never figured out why-- the cat and dog slept together and were buddies, the cat was very docile and the dog seemed to be too. After she cleaned up the mess, the dog went right to the vet to be put down. Totally traumatic. Can't say that I blamed her.
I might do the same in that scenario, as it would indicate a new temperament problem in the dog. But not if the dog and cat were new to each other.
well because she is my friend and she asked me what I would do if I were her and I told her I would consult my vet first and see what they had to say about it .
I would talk with a dog trainer instead of a vet, unless she thinks her dog had some sort of health problem. There are reasons why dogs chase, catch or even want to kill other animals. Instinctive prey drive, territoriality, defensive reaction, and fear. You have to consider the situation that lead up to it. The whole thing about "getting a taste for blood and killing again" is baloney. More likely that the dog has a strong prey drive and that it will tend to chase and try to catch other small animals. This can be controlled and re-directed, but if the owner doesn't recognize it other small pets shouldn't be left loose around the dog.
In my area I used to farm, the game warden said the #1 predator for killing deer was dog packs. Many of them were farm dogs who roamed at night.
They killed for the thrill and sure weren't starving.
A dog that kills for the thrill is similar to a serial killer,rapist, or pedophile.
Unlikely they will stop on their own.
You are accusing a dog of a distorted thrill kill? How well do you understand dog behavior? Dogs in packs behave very differently than a lone dog in a similar situation. The pack was roaming, exploring. Normal. The pack came across a deer which spooked and ran. A huge incentive for the pack to give chase and the pack tends to intensify the drive of each member. So the pack pursues prey and catches it. Nothing unnatural or warped about that. It just seems that way to people who are shocked when their pet behaves in a predatory manner.
A friend had one large dog and a goat that had lived peacefully together for several years. They roamed freely together over several acres. My friend took in a stray dog. All was well for a couple of weeks. One day he let the dogs and goat out as usual. Later, his original dog came back to the house covered with blood, obviously disturbed and evasive. He went looking for the others and came across the stray also bloody and disturbed, then found the goat mauled and dying. Most likely the newer dog pestered the goat, it panicked and ran, and that triggered a chase even by the dog who once considered the goat a companion. The pack caught the goat and dragged it down, and everything escalated. Of course he was upset, anyone would be. The dogs behaved as if they knew they were in big trouble. I think he rehomed the stray stating that it may not be safe around livestock. His original dog never showed interest in other livestock before or afterwards.
Last edited by Parnassia; 07-11-2017 at 04:02 PM..
I would not put my dog down if it killed a cat.Some dogs have a lot of prey drive and a running cat is seen as prey.We are talking dogs not little fur people and sometimes if allowed dogs will be dogs .We might not like what they do but once again they are dogs NOT little fur people. I am sure we do things they do not like too.
Years ago I was listening to an animal behaviorist on the radio and he said if you have more then one dog to be very careful about letting the dogs chase cats or other small animals even small dogs as when it is more then one dog involved pack mentality starts to really kick in and the cat or other small animal being chased has a higher chance of being killed.That also explains why good dogs that are allowed to roam with a pack ate likely to take down and kill sheep and other livestock.They are not "killers" per say but being with a pack puts them into a pack mentality. Hunting tends to be a pack thing in the canine world.
This is one reason I really do not like seeing small dogs in with large dogs at a dog park as it ups the chances of a small dog being hurt or killed by a group of larger dogs chasing it.Play tends to get a but rougher when it is more then 2 dogs.
I lived on a farm all my life and have had outside dogs and barn cats all my life.
Many times I have observed my dog chasing a cat.h^
Never has any of my dogs killed a cat.
They sometimes caught up to it and flipped it and the cat ran the other way.
I would be concerned if my dog killed cats.
Growing up I had dogs that chased our cats chased our pet raccoon and chased my pet rabbit and never hurt any of them so no one is saying everytime a dog chases a cat or other small animal it will be killed but it can and does happen .That does not make the dog some crazed killer, or bad dog. It just means prey drive was a bit high and the dog has poor self control so things got out of control.A lot of times the animal is killed because the dog shakes it. Look how many dogs shake toys when they play fetch..it is a natural thing dogs do.Sadly too many people expect dogs to act like little fur people and to understand what is right and wrong in a human world when it is natural instinct that drives them.Dogs can be taught self control but most owners do not bother then freak out over incidents such as this.
Thank God the majority of dogs raised around cats have learned self control and usually to give cats some space so if a cat stops they too stop.Cats can inflict a lot of damage on a dog if they want too and dogs that have gotten the full claws out swat often learn to give the cat space.
I am also a person that would not put my dog down if it bit someone.Growing up we had a grumpy old dog who did not enjoy kids too much.My parents had him before kids and he found himself with 4 kids. I think all 4 of us got bitten at least once for things such as sneaking up on him and frightening him .My mom never got mad at the dog nor was there any talk of giving him away or putting him down.Instead my mom would ask us what we did to the dog and then use it to teach us how to behave around dogs.She never made a big deal of it so it was no big deal and none of us were traumatized so all grew up owning dogs and understanding they are dogs not fur people.
Right now, my kids have two Dogo Argentinos, which are 100# dogs. The kids also got 8 chickens. The trouble with this scenario is the dogs would like to eat the chickens. Correction: the dogs would like to catch the chickens in their strong jaws. They aren't hungry.
So, the time has come when these 4 month old chickens need to leave their coop to free range, so the dogs stay in the house. Kids. They never think things through beforehand.
Animals are animals. The concept of "pet" is meaningless to them.
Many dogs and some cats can learn to leave prey species that live in the same household alone. Others can not. That doesn't make them monsters, just individuals with stronger prey drives. The burden is on US, the humans, to understand our individual animals' temperaments and prevent them from getting into situations where succumbing to prey drive will land them in trouble.
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