All Joking Aside...

[centrop67]

I recently tried to make light of the possum attack in my yard. It's easy to be detached when it's a pesky wild critter that wondered in to the yard.



Unfortunately, the neighbors beloved cat came in the backyard Sunday night and was killed by my dogs. I am heartbroken for the family, because I know how it feels to lose a family member. They told me they understand that they were just being dogs, but it doesn't feel okay to me.

Does anyone have any experience with this? These are good neighbors, and they just recently brought a new puppy into their life. I will be spending some serious money reinforcing all entrances to my backyard, but I would hate for something like this to happen again.

What do I say? How do I say it? Is it time to reconsider owning a pet like this. I try to do everything right. They don't go anywhere without my supervision.

It's probably a death sentence for Radar if I were to give him up. Leela is probably okay if she's not getting excited by Radar.

Ugggh! Thanks for letting me spill my guts.

[Raven]

I don't know what you say beyond what you've said.

You're doing what needs to be done to keep your dogs and others safe, including new and improved reinforcements. The cat got in your yard. No one's fault.

Our backyard is like Fort Knox. I've always wanted it to be, for privacy and to keep "casual" people out--these dogs just gave me the justification for the expense.

Neighbors on each side understand, and appreciate our efforts and dedication to keep their pets out of our backyard. They, in turn, do their parts to keep their pets out of our backyard. We have various reinforcements and they get checked on a regular basis. Some wildlife can sneak in if, say, some of the bricks under the stockade down at the woods shift before we see they've shifted, or Thor busts a clamp in a panel at the woods, but the sides facing the neighbors are double-protected by both neighbor's sides and ours.

While unfortunate, I hope you can just chalk it up to something that alerted your attention to increase security....It could've gone much worse, if they weren't the neighbors they are.

[karenz]

I had a similar situation with my first ds, Rawly. A friend came over with his weiner dog. I told him DO NOT let your dog into the backyard with Rawly, he likes to eat small furry creatures. They did it anyway. I heard screaming in the backyard while I was in the bathroom. I ran out an Rawly had scooped up their dog in the cone he was wearing (he had been fixed so had to wear the cone). Their dog had to get stitches and staples. I felt horrible but they had fair warning.

A second time a neighbor's dog dug into our yard. Same thing but no cone this time. I couldn't catch their dog but I'm sure it needed stitches when it got home. Again I felt horrible. But Rawly was protecting his property. It would be different if he had left his yard and done something. Both times the owners understood that it wasn't Rawlys fault. But I still felt bad.

[Stacy_R]

Like Sharon said...I don't think that you can say anything beyond what you've already said.

I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this...I'd be beside myself. But at the same time, many dogs see cats as prey and their cat did get into your yard. My Schnauzer HATES cats...all cats regardless of age or size and flat out loses her head when she sees one.

As far as their new puppy goes....I think you should definitely make sure your yard is secure and make any introductions in a neutral place (it could be that they are protective over the yard...Tyson deals with this). But please don't generalize this incident to apply to all animals everywhere. It could be totally environmental/situational (i.e. yard vs neutral territory).

Breathe.....

[johninny]

to help you ''breathe...'', just think about how many endangered song birds your dogs have saved from an equally unpleasant death.

and, of course, as someone intimated, be grateful for good neighbors and their new puppy.

[racingiron1]

I don't know what you can say, but based on your message here I am certain that your feelings of compassion come through to the neighbors. I hope your thoughts of re-homing the dogs were just fleeting. It's doubtful that you'd find a new owner that would be anywhere as conscientious as you about this sort of thing, or their well-being in general. There are probably some minor things you can change to further minimize the risk of this happening (strengthening the borders, maybe take a quick recon walk around the back yard before letting them out at night?), but of course you can never be 100% sure. Cat owners have to know they're taking a certain amount of risk letting one roam free outside. Most cats are cunning enough to survive, but our dogs are some of the few who can match wits with them. That cat could have just as easily had an unfortunate meeting with a coyote or speeding car. I think if you just talk with any neighbors who have a pet that might wander onto your property about the potential danger, you'll see that you can come to an amicable understanding. If that cat had just peeked over the fence while your crew was back there, it probably would have never considered going in.

[centrop67]

Lot of work to do, yes.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

There's all kinds of reasons that this is not my fault or even Radar or Leela's fault

However, I still feel really bad.

[dogbyte]

My back yard is a mini fortress. 6' privacy with stringers on the outside to prevent mine climbing. Railroad ties buried underneath..for digging and termite prevention..the side of the garage fenced odd so dogs can not get to the front of the house..and still twice my male GSD has gotten ahold of cats...threw one in the air and it hit the then chain link in mid yard and never touched the ground as it cleared the 6' fence..last time had it by the back too near the chain link and it got through part way so he let go..I was more worried about him getting scratched as a good friend about lost her GSD to infection from cat scratches..I used to own cats...declawed house cats..I don't want cats in my yard. Your dogs did what was instinctive...I hope you don't hold it against them...people should keep ALL their pets on their own propert.

[LyonsFamily]

to help you ''breathe...'', just think about how many endangered song birds your dogs have saved from an equally unpleasant death.

Exactly...At my parents' house, the neighbors' cats pluck all of the tail feathers from the birds first, let them suffer for a few days without the ability to fly and then come back and play with them until they're dead.

You know, I have zero tolerance for cat owners that let their cats outdoors. How can you have an animal as a beloved pet when you don't know where it is half of the time? They destroy birds, use children's sandboxes as bathrooms, and wander as they please. If cat owners really want their cats to get a taste of fresh air, they can walk it on a harness and leash or give it access to an enclosure with a top.

This reminds me of the time my brother moved to their new property. They have 10 acres and a young malamute. When they moved in, the neighbor cheerfully informed them that they have inside/outside cats that are used to wandering the woods in the neighborhood and their malamute better be ok with them coming into my brother's yard. Well, the cat killed a few of my brother's egg laying chickens. When they told the neighbors about the chickens, it wasn't that big of a deal to them, until they found out our state has a zero tolerance policy for animals that kills or chase livestock and the livestock owners are allowed to trap or shoot whatever to protect their animals. It's not uncommon for an outside cat to suddenly "disappear." Owners learn pretty quickly to keep those cats indoors.

I don't see how this is your fault at all. I send Elli after cats all the time if they're on my property bothering my birds. Her job is to protect the yard. Reading this makes me happy that we have 5 acres and no neighbors around.

[cordeliandemon]

Really sorry to hear about this whole ordeal! I can only imagine what it was like to tell them. Having read this I've thought again about the 6-8ish inch space between the gate to demons run and it's frame and I'll have to put some chicken wire down so I'm not kept up at night wondering if a cat gets too curious.
I have cats myself and when I had pet chickens a dog I was minding got loose so I know the feeling... The horror! my cats are indoor 70% outdoor 30%. There are some risks involved for any cat owners and I suppose it depends what kind of area you live in. If I lived in close proximity to neighbours with dogs and/or didn't have demon under lock and key I wouldn't dare let them out, but we would certainly be overrun with 3 acres of rats so there's method to the madness luckily they never lose sight of the front door for fear they'll miss a meal

[centrop67]

Just to add some details...

Their cat was a 99.9% indoor cat. As long as they've had it, I've only seen it twice - once in the window sill briefly.

Their cat was de-clawed, so it was unable to defend itself in any way.

The daughter knew it was out but failed to look for it until morning.

I was sleeping heavily from a long day of super bowl partying, and was only awakened by wife to remove the animal the dogs had gotten hold of when she let them out in the middle of the night.

I have not had direct contact with the neighbors on this incident. A text from the father explaining their sadness and a removal of blame is all I have - except a couple of Facebook posts mourning the cat. The cat was a beautiful long-haired black cat with stunning yellow and black eyes.

They recently had the chain-link fence replaced with a 6 foot privacy fence, and I paid for the section between our houses.

There is a gap along the bottom that I had planned to fix, but I have been slow in getting to it.

They have a miniature Yorky, and a new puppy (lab/Australian Shepherd mix). Even before this incident, I had no plans of socializing my dogs with the new pup.

I don't know which of my dogs did the deed, but from previous experience they work in tandem.

I have to live next to these people for a very long time, and I like them very much. But, I am dreading seeing them every time I pull into my driveway.

I have no desire to blame anyone for this accident, but again, it hurts.

[racingiron1]

I'm sure it's difficult, but when you do speak to them, if you just express the type of things you wrote in the first message, they'll certainly understand how you feel. The fact that the cat was de-clawed was probably the main reason for the tragic outcome. A de-clawed cat outside at night on its own is in a VERY precarious situation. Without claws it had no way to strike back at the dogs (to give it the precious few seconds required to flee) and no way to grab the fence, or tree, or side of the house, or whatever it could find to climb to safety. I know this is not at all about assigning blame, but hopefully that family has learned a valuable lesson about the responsibilities of pet ownership. I think all parties involved can find common ground in feeling sorry for the cat's fate.

[Raven]

You're going to feel bad because you are a decent human being. It's one of the downsides of being a decent human being.

So while you allow yourself to feel what you're going to feel, I'm personally going to celebrate that you aren't a jackass.

Do you live in an area where you can get busy on that one area you know is a security issue? (Can't remember where you live.) It might be the catharsis that you need.

[Stacy_R]

You're going to feel bad because you are a decent human being. It's one of the downsides of being a decent human being.

So while you allow yourself to feel what you're going to feel, I'm personally going to celebrate that you aren't a jackass.

Hear, Hear!!!!

[HeatherH]

Sorry it's painful and awkward at the same time.

I'm not a fan of outdoor cat in town. I understand farms but not in the city. Your actually asking for something to happen to your cat. Outdoor cats have shorter lifespans.

You feel for animals so that's a good thing. when I adopt an animal it's for life because I can't stand the thought of what might happen with the next family. I have a cat because of my daughter otherwise I would not have bought one. She has her problems I'm sure the next family would have put her down for.

My husband's last dog had 3 families before him. We just worked around his limitations.

I use to volunteer at the shelter here. I know here that they usually put down dogs that attack other animals for no other reason then no one wants them.

Dutch will kill rodents here but stops at other dogs and cats (at least his cat).

[Travis]

I can sympathize with you feeling sad over the incident and commend you for being a caring individual concerned about your neighbors.

Here's my tactless take on it though... I would essentially view this the same as "I'm so sorry to hear your cat escaped and was hit by a car while crossing the freeway."

By which I mean, although inadvertently, the cat is dead because the neighbors failed to contain it properly. Not because of you or your dogs in the same way that the driving on the interstate isn't at fault for following the rules of the road and has a squirrel run out under their tire. Had you failed to contain your dogs in your own backyard, and they invaded the neighbor's property killing their cat, the fault would be with you. But your dogs were properly contained and for all they knew, this could have been the same interloping possum or raccoon invading the trash.

Not to be callous to the neighbors' beloved pet but the sad part is that the cat escaped and ended up dead because of the inherent nature of an escaped or feral pet. NOT (IMO) because you or your dogs did anything wrong in this case.

Again, I commend you for your empathy for your neighbors and it's tough to have this happen between two good neighbors. If it "feels" right, you could bring treats for the new puppy and inquire if they would like to work together to make sure the fence between you is as secure as possible to keep both your pets safe.

I say this as someone who has seen numerous stray, feral, and outdoor kept house pet cats invade cinderblock privacy fences, enter and foul neighboring houses. (It's a real problem in Phoenix and the Southwest in general with outdoor cats destroying the yards, flower beds, and occasionally picking fights with other properly contained pets.)

Understandably, no one wants to be the instrument of destruction of a valued neighbor's pet. But I wouldn't get rid of my car because of a stray that ran into the road in front of my bumper at speed. Much less one of my Dutchies in a scenario like this one. I'm sorry it's something you have to go through though and commend you for your ability to empathize so strongly with a neighbor.

quick edit: Only more secure solution that comes to mind is adding to a chain link "dog run" area of the backyard that has a complete roof. Also effective (and necessary in some in town areas even) for keeping coyotes away from backyard contained medium and small sized dogs. This would add an extra layer of protection both ways as well as giving a "roof" that would be needed to keep out cats. Not a route I think you should have to go, but a viable solution if you are truly concerned.

[centrop67]

Understandably, no one wants to be the instrument of destruction of a valued neighbor's pet.

I know the subject of this thread is All joking aside, but...

I have only shared this info directly with a few friends and coworkers. Would you believe that more than one of them have asked if they can borrow my dogs for a weekend?

UPDATE: The cat's human mother came over the house Saturday night to talk. She's still sad, but reiterated that she didn't blame us or the dogs. Apparently, the daughter left her window open, and the cat pushed the screen through and got out. She also heard the commotion, but decided not to get up (not that there was anything to be done to prevent it at that point.).

Unfortunately, we were on our way to the vet with Leela (GI Problems), and kind of left things hanging. I am sure that time will be the best healer in all this. Anyway, Leela is fine - possible ulcer, but she is getting back to normal already.

[Dutchringgirl]

Im sure this has been said, i didnt read all of the responses, but DO NOT give him up !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shit happens and if they have an outside cat, it is their responsibility to understand what can happen. I dont mean to sound cold, I love and adore all animals, but they are animals and even though they are domesticated, they STILL have their wild instincts. Radar, or any dog does not know the difference between a wild animal that he can go after, and a neighbors cat that he is supposed to leave alone. It is not your fault nor Radars. I understand your sadness, I would be besides myself too, but its the animal world.

Yes, I would secure your yard as best possible, but they too, should do everything they can to keep their pets in their own yard too. If they are ok with what happened and that they are animals, keep good communication with them and move on and both do what you can to prevent anything in the future.

IM sorry this happened but I am glad that all humans are the understanding type.