We have cats; the folk opposite have two lurchers (who are rarely if ever walked, by the way).

A couple of nights ago, one of their lurchers got out of their garden, where they are allowed to roam unleashed and unsupervised, got hold of one of our cats on our property, and now our cat is at the vet being operated on to hopefully fix an internal injury.

I can’t find any definitive answer on t’web about what legal recourse we have, if any, to impose some sort of discipline on these lurcher owners. We have given them stuff from lurcher forums on lurcher-proof fencing, etc, but I don’t know what else we can do.

Obviously they will be receiving the vet bill.

Does anyone here have any experience, knowledge or helpful advice? Is it worth contacting the RSPCA…?

or

if my child ate some of your cat shit that was in my garden due to your cat coming over the fence (it is rarely supervised when it comes over by the way) and was then made ill…

what legal recourse would i have?

harsh i know mate, but you have an obvious undertone that they can’t look after their dogs properly, yet what are your provisions for supervising your cat?

i think if you have small fluffy creatures in the vicinity of lurchers, small fluffy things are likely at some point to get **** up…

Minimum they pick up the vets bills. If their dog is insured this will be covered under third party. Also they should have their garden secured, how did the dog escape?

Its your call if you call the police, unfortunatly dogs will chase things thats why they need supervision, but its the unsepervised etc bit where the owner has let their dogs down, aswell as not exercising them.

I would call the police and I am a dog owner, it could have been a child. You could call the councils dog warden, they will have one and get advice. Your vet may be in a position to advise aswell.

as above. claim on their pet insurance.

then make sure your fence is up to keeping dogs out?

it could have been a child.

I love singletrack!

Did you actually see the cat get attacked?

Tracknico – unfortunately in law cats are considered wild animals so the owners are not liable for what they do whereas dogs are considered tame so the owners are liable for them.

I think the dog owners will be liable for the vets bill but nothing further. No other legal sanction

If a child in the habit of eating cat shit, I’d suggest that the problem there isn’t the cat.

Owners are legally responsible for their dogs at all times. The same does not apply for cats.

However, I doubt if a dog attacking a cat is a criminal offence, so that leaves civil action against them – you’d probably get the Vet’s bill plus compensation paid out in small claims court.

it could have been a child

It was a cat. Dogs and Cats don’t usually get along btw. 😉
Don’t call the police (yet) just calmly point out the folly of their ways and how it impacts on you and yours.
This incident should be a wake up call for them to adequately secure their dogs, shirley ?

Oh, edit: – hope the cat’s OK !

Hope the cat gets well soon. I’m not sure of the legalities- were there any witnesses to the attack? I imagine so.

Turn the cat into a nice little handbag. 😀

Cats are defined as freee range animals, whereas dogs are not. Therefore the owner of the dog is responsible (but not sure if liable) for any damage that may be caused by dog.
Also can I say I hope that cat is ok.

Seriously…. buy a tiger. How cool would that be? And then get matching clothing. And some medallions. And fake tan

that’s an interesting legal standpoint (the free roaming/tame thing)

and further points out the shitness of cats to me!

even in the eyes of the law cats are indifferent companions!

you and Hora have not aged well Bin Bins

There is no reason why the dogs should be tied up in the back garden.

However as it escaped then you have something to go on. I get the undertones of some neighborly issues here anyway. In which case good luck

It does seem a little odd but thats how the law stands. Interestingly farmers are liable for damage their livestock causes if it gets out of its field.

if “in law cats are considered wild animals” why should anyone be held responsible for their welfare or pay for their injuries?
if i run over a squirrel or shoot it in my garden i don’t expect a bill from the rspca.

Poor Cat hope he gets better soon. Will be traumatised for ages.

I think we need to have a whiparound for tracknicko, who is so poor he is making his kids eat random stuff from the garden.

Because they are still owned by someone thus are possessions. It does seem a bit odd but thats the way it stands

…it’s because cats are in charge (and they know it).

Anyway

If a child in the habit of eating cat shit, I’d suggest that the problem there isn’t the cat.

made me properly laugh out loud

This topic reminds me of what Bingo did to a cat in our garden. 🙁

its even worse. i don’t have any kids!

did have a MAJOR issue with cat shit in our garden, but the arrival of the new pup has curtailed the visits somewhat.

so now just dogshit to deal with…

hmmmmm

This topic reminds me of what Bingo did to a cat in our garden.

was it like the monkey and the frog?

I would call the police and I am a dog owner, it could have been a child

Strange how a dog owner could know so little about dogs.

(and get it right, its supposed to be “it could have been a child’s face”

Last time my dog caught up with a cat it sat on a fence post and slashed her across the nose. She squealed like a bitch. Bloody big cat it was. I lol’ed 🙂 (this was “in the wild”, no gardens were involved)

if you see the dog again just shoot it, self defence and all that.

This has been discussed in so many threads here.

Dogs “can” be dangerous. I didn’t see where it said the dogs were tied up in the garden? May have missed it.

However the garden should be secure.

The animals should be well cared for. As the OP said he has given them information to help, which may not go down well, but any owner should be aware of specific welfare for their dogs.

The issue here is the dog escaped. If the attack was in the dogs garden then I would say fair play, its in the dogs territory, dog chases cat etc, God forbid it caught the cat which would normally be straight out over a fence.

The RSPCA would be able to help in assessing if he dogs are well cared for and help or educate the owners.

I think it would be a police matter as the dogs were not in a secure environment and attcked an animal, realistically that should not happen.

Its also down to who maintains the fence etc I guess, but if you have a dog wether it is or is not your fence you stil have to make that provision.

I would call the police and I am a dog owner, it could have been a child.

Alert Alert

Daily Mail to the Forum Please

End of alert

http://news.stv.tv/tayside/265451-appeal-after-court-orders-dog-to-be-put-down-for-attacking-cat/

Must be crap lurcher if the cat survived. From your description it would appear they wont be insured so i would hope you have cat insured.

You guys know my previous on dogs but I see no purpose in involving the police – where is the crime?

if they are the type of people who you are suggesting then they will probably ask for proof that it was their dog that mauled your cat…without that proof I’d imagine you are goosed if it went to court…

I had a similar thing happen when my old next door neighbours cat sat on the boundry wall of our house and didn’t factor in my dog (young staffy) could jump quite high..not a pretty sight. ended up with me paying nowt..we both agreed it was the dumb cats fault (ironically called ‘Lucky’).

Oh dear, I hope your cat is ok.

Dogs have chased cats since time immemorial. I’m surprised though, usually the dog comes off worse. BTW it is not at all accurate to say that because a dog chases a cat that it will chase/attack a child.

Were there any independent witnesses to the attack? What sort of relationship do you have with the dogs’ owner? (Not great by the sound of it.) Sounds like a bad neighbour dispute to me, solicitors love these, the fees rack up and there is rarely, if ever, any or any amicable resolution.

However difficult it may be, I suggest you approach your neighbour in a friendly manner, explain what has happened, give him the vet’s bill and ask him/her/them to pay it. If the relationship is already strained, wielding the Police/RSPCA stick will only make your neighbours dig their heels in.

If that doesn’t work you can ramp up your response accordingly.

Get a faster cat.

Cheers all; binners pics made me smile, and catpoo-eating children.

The thread has pretty much summed up our thoughts, I think.

A few points: we have established that the owners are not all that aware of the breed. They seemed surprised to learn, for example, that a lurcher will take after deer. So there is ignorance to overcome, certainly.

Yes, we know dogs chase cats. They will also do all number of other antisocial things, that the owner needs to control/moderate/mitigate against. If they can’t build a decent fence, the dogs shouldn’t be allowed to roam free.

Most important: it looks like Smudge will be OK – he’s been operated on to fix a hernia. Other than that his insides appear to be in good order. So he wins his ‘Surviving Dog Attack’ medal.

As a Lurcher owner my dog is kept securely in the garden, but has been known to chase after cats that roam into the garden. It’s even had a couple of cats in its mouth but lost a clump of head hair and had a bleeding nose to show for it.

If my dog got out of the garden and hurt a neighbours cat i would pick up any vets bills and make sure it didn’t happen again. Any cat coming into the garden when the dog is out is fair game. Darwins law.

http://news.stv.tv/tayside/265451-appeal-after-court-orders-dog-to-be-put-down-for-attacking-cat/

I would love to know if the cat was on that dog owners property or not.

Complete double standards, cats are a pest to wildlife, people who own small animals such as chickens etc, they shit everywhere and their owners never clear it up. They should be securely locked in peoples property but that would piss off the cat lovers.

Glad that you have had a (relatively) positive outcome in that your cat is ok physically. I hope that at the very least your neighbours are shocked, sympathetic and willing to pay your vet bills. Hopefully, nothing more that that would be required, if they are civilised human beings.

I have the opposite problem of cats (and other wildlife) in my garden and have to be on the lookout before letting my dogs out. Its a worry on both sides. Fortunately, the cats are lightening fast, rabbits less so!!