Cat killed by hunt

[Cop-Pop]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-killed-pack-fox-hounds-hunt-rides-land.html

Not sure if this has been posted or not. Certainly not good publicity!

 

[tallyho!]

Very unfortunate poor cat.

Thoughtless too.

 

[flyingfeet]

This is in latest news - however it just goes to show that a good huntsmen is necessary and should be appreciated

They ought to be able to call them off cats, hare, deer and anything else they shouldn't be chasing.

 

[stencilface]

Oops - poor cat. Could happen to many in a split second though, I'm sure its happened to ordinary one-dog owners before.

 

[PorkChop]

Poor cat However not sure if I believe that the article is factually correct.

Unfortunately it doesn't matter how many rules and regulations are implemented upon Hunts - or how open and transparent they are - there will always be those that will regard them with animosity.

 

[HeatherAnn]

Absolutely disgusting. If they can't call the hounds off then they shouldn't be allowed to roam in the countryside. I bet if this was a group of kids who's dogs attack their cat there would be uproar on this site. How is this any different?

 

[AmyMay]

Poor cat However not sure if I believe that the article is factually correct..

What is it you find incorrect?

 

[SplashofSoy]

It was in my local paper but a slightly less daily fail like version. Horrible for the owners but the reality is may have happened in a split second and the huntsman would have had no opportunity to call the hounds. Could happen to any one with a dog who was off lead in a split second who got hold of the poor moggy.

 

[Alec Swan]

Had the cat bolted across the road, in-front of a car, as they do, would that most dreadful of rags, The Mail, have made a dog's dinner of it? Of course they wouldn't.

Another point, I'm surprised to see the cat in one piece. I'd have expected the hounds to have broken it up, and there would have been very little evidence.

Assuming that the poor moggy was in fact, killed by hounds, it was an accident, and one which could hardly have been prevented.

Alec.

 

[Ranyhyn]

As I said on my post in Latest News, I think maybe the hunt cleaned it up before returning it and maybe rather than being torn apart by hounds was rather quickly despatched and the huntsman did manage to then get them off it. I think that's the only kindness they could give the owners under the circumstances.
As for the article being shocked at the bag - what would they have rathered? A silk pillow. The vehicle of return is rather less important than the fact it was returned.

 

[Cop-Pop]

This story interested me coz a few years ago my parents cat was chased by some hounds - luckily the cat was too quick for them. Last year when I met a different hunt while walking the dog they went past a small holding that had a few bunnies in cages near the perimeter - the hounds were obv interested but they didn't dare put a paw out of place.

 

[Marydoll]

Absolutely disgusting. If they can't call the hounds off then they shouldn't be allowed to roam in the countryside. I bet if this was a group of kids who's dogs attack their cat there would be uproar on this site. How is this any different?

^^^^^^^ agree with this, nobodys pet should be a "casualty" for want of a better word, of any hunt.
To me thats akin to a shooter, missing and hitting your horse, neither should be acceptable

 

[Captain Bridget]

Poor cat Although I agree that cat does look relatively unharmed, it is possible that at that age it might have had a heart attack or something causing it to die, rather than the hounds actually killing it. It does look as though the hounds were called off and left it in once piece thankfully.

I don't agree on the method of return though. If it had been some form of bag, that would be fine but it is a dog food bag. If I were the owners of the cat I would feel I was being taunted for my cats death! Rather thoughtless there...

I would also want to be told what had happened straight away, not have the hunt take the cat away to do with what they wish.

 

[ArabianGold]

Had the cat bolted across the road, in-front of a car, as they do, would that most dreadful of rags, The Mail, have made a dog's dinner of it? Of course they wouldn't.

Another point, I'm surprised to see the cat in one piece. I'd have expected the hounds to have broken it up, and there would have been very little evidence.

Assuming that the poor moggy was in fact, killed by hounds, it was an accident, and one which could hardly have been prevented.

Alec.

I have to agree with Alec on this one, although very sad and I wouldn't want it to happen.
The cat does look rather intact, there doesn't even look to be bite marks anywhere on it. I would have expected some fur missing around the neck area as that is where a predator would go for.

The couple live in the countryside and know that the hunt will pass through, if I lived where I knew the hunt would be coming a fragile cat like that I would keep inside while they were about.

I am defending the hunt on this occasion because they get enough bad press as it is and for once this hunt was legal and it was just a freak accident. Yes ok they should have returned the body with a "sorry" but at least they didn't just discard the body and continue on.

Like someone has already said if the poor kitty had run out in front of a car it wouldn't have got this press attention..

Sorry to the owners but it was a case of wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[Tinseltoes]

Absolutely disgusting. If they can't call the hounds off then they shouldn't be allowed to roam in the countryside. I bet if this was a group of kids who's dogs attack their cat there would be uproar on this site. How is this any different?

Exactly.Poor kitty.

 

[Bertolie]

I am neither pro or anti hunting but I have heard of this happening with other hunts. My brother-in-law witnessed a pet cat being torn to shreds by hunt dogs. It happened on private property and the hounds were obviously not under control. The incident was also witnessed by the young children who owned the cat. The hunts response...."never mind its only a cat"!!

 

[ester]

they did say the hunt was on their land and it wasn't said that they didn't have permission (and I am sure the dailyfail would have mentioned it if they didn't!) therefore one assumes that they knew the hunt were coming.

Am unfortunate accident that was all, I was also quite surprised at the good nick the cat appears to be in.

 

[Wagtail]

I have to agree with Alec on this one, although very sad and I wouldn't want it to happen.
The cat does look rather intact, there doesn't even look to be bite marks anywhere on it. I would have expected some fur missing around the neck area as that is where a predator would go for.

I have to disagree. Whilst the cat has not been 'torn to shreads', it was probably rescued by the huntsman - too late and died of its internal injuries. Having seen many rats killed by my two jack russels, there is very rarely any blood or fur missing. One of my russels was also mauled by a german shepherd. She didn't have a mark on her but had to stay on a drip at the vets for three days and had two punctured lungs. Luckily she pulled through.

 

[Bernster]

I don't think much turns on the the fact that it doesn't look mauled or isn't in small pieces. That would be more distressing for the owners, admittedly, but if it's died due to hounds, that is bad enough. Perhaps it was taken away to be cleaned up?

Yes, it's a regrettable accident and it's not as if anyone meant for this to happen, but with the right level of sympathy and apology (and minus the dog food bag), the end result may not have been so distressing for the owners, and they might not have rushed off to the dreaded DM for another cheap dig at hunting.

 

[Lollypop82]

Terribly unfortunate. Must have been awful for the poor cat and owners. I think I would be pretty upset to have my cat returned in a dog food bag, maybe a cardboard box would have been better but at the least they have the body back and it does look relatively unscathed

 

[jendie]

But it isn't quite the same as a cat being killed by a car is it ? It is unusual for a cat to be killed by a hunt and that is what makes it news. Thousands of people are killed in road accidents every year but they rarely make national news. Three of four killed in a railway or air accident DOES make the news.

Sadly cats are considered fair game by many dogs, especially hounds. I have an Otterhound who is one of the kindest and most gentle dogs I've owned by I wouldn't let her near a cat because I can guess what would happen, even if she was on her best behaviour.

It is sad for everyone but I'm not surprised the huntsmen couldn't call the dogs away, by the time he realised what was happening it was probably too late. I'm glad that they washed the cat before returning it but using a dog food bag was a tad tactless.

Whilst there are hunts and cats that roam as they please this sort of accident is inevitable.

 

[fburton]

Surely the cat will have died as quick and (relatively) painless death as any fox caught by hounds. So what is the fuss about? Okay, so it is a bit sad for the 'owners' but the cat won't have suffered significantly.

 

[OFG]

they did say the hunt was on their land and it wasn't said that they didn't have permission (and I am sure the dailyfail would have mentioned it if they didn't!) therefore one assumes that they knew the hunt were coming.

QUOTE]

I initially thought this too but further down the article it says there is a public footpath running throught their land so the hunt can ride across?

In poor taste for the hunt to return their cat in a dog food bag, talk about rubbing salt in to the wound (so to speak and no pun intended)

 

[CorvusCorax]

Agree with Wagtail, crush injuries kill a cat very easily and quickly with no visible puncture wounds, seen it with my own eyes.

 

[FestiveBoomBoom]

I think the fact they gave the cat back in a dog food bag was very insensitive and heartless. It wouldn't have taken much effort to wrap it in a towel and put it in a small box. I feel very sorry for the owners, especially at this time of year

 

[Wagtail]

Surely the cat will have died as quick and (relatively) painless death as any fox caught by hounds. So what is the fuss about? Okay, so it is a bit sad for the 'owners' but the cat won't have suffered significantly.

I don't think that most of the public would view the death of a fox by hounds as particularly humane. I am not a cat person, but can fully understand her owners' upset! It is not just the death itself but the sheer terror before hand. And who knows whether the death was quick? The huntsman may have pulled the cat free but it could have had a slow death from its injuries, who knows?

 

[Marydoll]

Surely the cat will have died as quick and (relatively) painless death as any fox caught by hounds. So what is the fuss about? Okay, so it is a bit sad for the 'owners' but the cat won't have suffered significantly.

Its attitudes like this that gives hunts a bad name, "its only a cat", if your horse was attacked by a pack of dogs in your field would you feel the same. ?
" its only a horse,get another one"

 

[jendie]

>>>Surely the cat will have died as quick and (relatively) painless death as any fox caught by hounds. So what is the fuss about? <<<

This is missing the point by a mile!!! Just because something or someone dies quickly doesn't make their death OK does it??

 

[PingPongPony]

It was a drag hunt so the path was set therefore the people would have been informed. My friend has a field with a footpath running through it and the drag hunt passes through it, she gets informed a week before and reminded 2 days before as well that they'll be coming through.
Also, if you had an old deaf cat you wouldn't let it run around a field on its own surely? Anything could attack it! Or it could get scared of anything and get a heart attack, or get lost or stuck, its old so not a agile and fast. I know that if i had an old cat i would let it out into the garden and walk around with it to keep an eye on it.
It's a freak accident, it wasnt very tactful to hand the body back in the dog food bag, as said before, it wouldn't take that long to wrap it in a towel and put it in a cardboard box. Also sorry would be nice but it was still an accident, they didn't set the dogs on the cat, just a matter of the cat being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[Marydoll]

Im sorry but i dont think it is a case of the cat in the wrong place at the wrong time, i think its a case of a pack of dogs who where not under control, that attacked and killed someones pet.