Dog got hold of neighbors cat

ArcticHeron · 26 Oct 2022 at 12:21

Went to let my greyhound outside this morning and he bolted straight up the garden after hearing a meow. Unfortunately the cat didn't see what was coming and must have just frozen up. Dog got hold of it and did what dogs do, brought it straight to me and dropped it. Poor little thing passed away as I stroked it. Got very upset about it to be honest,

We weren't sure who's it might have been as several neighbors have similar looking cats. Took it straight to the vets to check for a chip but sadly not registered. Unfortunately phoned one of our close neighbors and they confirmed it was there's. Wife was very, very upset understandably and the husband was very understanding. We're going to chat about it tonight when we're back from work.

Feel completely and utterly awful about the situation. I know it's no ones fault, but if I'd just have checked outside first maybe it wouldn't have happened. He's chased cats off in the garden before and him being a sighthound I knew full well what might happen if he where to catch one, but on this occasion I just didn't think to check.

Obviously will offer to cover the costs for cremation and the like as I don't think the poor thing was insured but still. Don't think there's any amount of words or money or gesture that will be enough to help them feel better.

ArcticHeron · 26 Oct 2022 at 12:43

We've been training out his prey drive since we got him form the shelter about a year and a half ago. Where he once used to try to get at cats across the road, he now almost completely ignores them, same with smaller dogs.

Such an awful situation. The thing that keeps coming into my head was how guilty my dog looked. He dropped it straight at my feet then lay down next to me shaking as I tried to comfort the cat. Probably just his adrenaline and I'm projecting, but my partner keeps messaging me saying how down he looks and refuses to eat his breakfast and go for a walk.

ArcticHeron · 26 Oct 2022 at 13:07

CaptainRAVE said:
That’s why I don’t let our cats out. That said, sounds like your dog shouldn’t be let out either, doesn’t sound particularly friendly.

I would never, ever let him off the lead in pubic. Even for a greyhound he's enormous and he goes like the clappers when we've rented fenced off fields for him to have a gallop in. Even if I was reasonably certain he wouldn't get triggered by a small dog, it's not a risk worth taking. We've only just started to take him out without a muzzle on.

If you see a hound with a muzzle on it's never usually because the dog is likely to bite or attack a human or even a dog it goes towards. Ours loves other dogs and is so calm when walking past/chatting with other owners. It's just that if they DO get off the lead, you can't trust them not to give chase to something it's seen.

It's the sad thing about sighthound ownership. They are the sweetest, gentlest, most easy going breed I've ever known, but that prey drive is so instinctual in them that even with extensive training they're reasonably likely to go for anything small that bolts, especially if they're on its territory.

ArcticHeron · 26 Oct 2022 at 13:25

TheOracle said:
Not sure people have understood Diddums post.

anyway, OP sounds like a decent human being to me. Rare find these days.

Yeah, I didn't read it that way at all. And thanks, don't know how you could do any less and live with yourself to be honest.

ArcticHeron · 26 Oct 2022 at 15:07

Chris Wilson said:
To the original poster. Sorry to hear of the situation, but trying to train the prey drive out of a sight hound to any degree of reliability is a mug's game. They have been bred for generations and generations to chase and kill small animals. Something they do exceedingly well and it would probably take generations of eugenics to develop a greyhound that didn't naturally have hyper prey drive.

I have owned and bred Anatolian Karabash most of my adult life, and despite the one I have now having had zero training it has so far caught and killed about four foxes, it just "knew" they were predators and after my birds. It's what THEY have been bred for. I would say training it out of them would be excruciatingly difficult.

Yeah, whilst we've very much been able to get him to NOT react to smaller animals on walks and the like, I'd never assume we've eliminated the behavior entirely. Walking him without a muzzle is one thing, but I flat out refuse to let him off the lead even if we where to keep him muzzled. The pace of him alone would make most other walkers nervous if he came towards them and whilst I trust him to play nice with other dogs in an enclosed environment with other dogs I know, his size can be very intimidating to strange dogs and I wouldn't blame any of them for getting snappy and god knows where it could go from there.

Ultimately it's just about knowing your dog and the habits of the breed and being responsible and safe when you can. Unfortunately on this occasion it all went to pot. Goes to show you can only ever prepare for so much. Just horrible. Keep thinking of 'what ifs' but I guess there's no point now. It is what it is and I just have to handle the situation as delicately as I possibly can.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Wasn't feeling my best after it happened but your kind and understanding comments have helped calm me down a little

ArcticHeron · 26 Oct 2022 at 18:47

arknor said:
Did the cat have a bell on it's collar to warn you it was in the vicinity?

Sadly not no, just a collar but no name tag or anything.

Relentless81 said:
My greyhound is two different dogs, he's an absolute mard and scared of everything, on the lead he doesn't care about other dogs, apart from the odd one that sometimes gets him excited. cats he's stopped caring and squirrels he gets excited but if he's on the lead he doesn't go mental like he used to.

I once made the mistake of letting him off the lead thinking he was ok now, very naive of me. he completely changed into a different dog, luckily he didn't get hold of anything but I realised I was lucky that nothing happened and he'll never be off the lead again. Only time I've really seen him at full pelt, he was a fast racer and I don't think I've ever seen anything with legs move that fast.

In some states in America it's against the law to have a greyhound off the lead in public.

He has free roam of the garden though and if he catches anything in the garden then that's unfortunate but not mine or his fault. You did a lot more than I would have done but it is nice of you so well done for that

Haha, he sounds a lot like mine. They're such misunderstood animals I feel, it's a shame things like this happen as its a really poor representation of what the breed in general is like.

ArcticHeron · 27 Oct 2022 at 09:53

OP here guys, thought I'd drop a bit of an update.

Went round to the neighbors around 8.30 last night when I heard the partner get in. Was utterly dreading it, but first thing he did when he opened his door was embrace me and told me not too worry... that nearly did me in. He invited me inside, called his partner down and we sat at the table and I told them exactly what happened, how she'd passed and that she wasn't alone when it happened. We all got a little upset but they where so understanding and forgiving, certainly more then so then I felt I deserved. I told them they wouldn't have to pay a penny towards whatever they may want to do with her and that I'd pick her up from the vets and bring her back myself, but they wouldn't have it. They just wanted to forget and remember her as she was, which is of course fair enough. They said all they wanted was for us to be friendly neighbors again and that they never wanted that to change.

We've always been very close to them. Speak all the time, get each other presents around Christmas, lend each other tools for garden/DIY work. My partners a Midwife with a nursing background and she assisted quite a lot in the very early days of Covid when their mother nearly passed away at home with it. When I found out it was there cat, I really despaired. Not because I thought it would ruin the relationship, but because having a conversation like that with someone you know and care about is always going to be more difficult then just a random stranger. They loved that cat and indirectly or not I took that away from them.

Overall a crappy situation I'll feel bad about for a very long time I imagine, but I guess the moral of the story is that you should own your mistakes, always be honest and try to do the right thing ESPECIALY when it's heartbreaking to do so.

ArcticHeron · 27 Oct 2022 at 13:36

dowie said:
Good result OP, glad it was sorted.

Quite a bit of uncertainty there, it is out of control if it attacks a person but "could" be considered out of control if it attacks a cat etc.. also it was in the OPs garden not out on the street etc.. it all seems a bit uncertain.

Like there is a big difference between your dog being off lead in public, failing to respond to the owner's recall commands, running into someone else's garden or indeed killing a cat on the pavement vs a dog being off lead in a fenced-in garden and killing a cat.

OP hasn't been unreasonable here, my mum's dog will chase cats, if there's a cat in the garden then it's not a good idea to let her out, if she's already in the garden though and a cat jumps the fence then that's unfortunate but can't really be prevented. If we take her for a walk she's on a lead all the time until we get to a big park or some area of countryside/woods etc.

I did query it with the vets when I went in just to be on the safe side and she said it nearly always comes down to context. The cat in this instance wasn't maimed and appeared to have died more from shock then anything (though they hadn't done extensive checks at this point), the dog breed is known for having a strong prey drive, it isn't on the danger list and the cat was in our garden and had no clear and obvious ways inside other then climbing the 6 foot fence.

Even if it all that goes against you and the cat survives and requires extensive medical treatment, so long as it's on the dog owners property they're not required to payout anything. They said they'd never heard of a case whereby the dog owner was prosectuted or the dog taken away/put down in that instance. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened that way of course, or that it's even morally the right standing, but still.