Cat killed by hunt

[Fiagai]

For Crikes sake would people please read the article again..

OK From the Daily mail Article the following:

The hounds were legally involved in a drag hunt across land where there was a public right of way

The hounds came across the cat and very unfortunatly the death of the cat appeared to have been caused by the hounds actions (unfortunatly details here are rather unspecific)

The "huntsman" intravened with the hounds, got of his horse and took the cat away from hounds

The "hunstman" admitted that he believed the hounds were at fault and apologised to the owners of the cat

The cat was returned to its owners (the bag in which it was carried is immaterial - would it have been any better in a fertlister sack or even a cat food bag?)

The incident was reported to the police, but after an investigation officers decided to take no further action.


It is very sad that the cat died, it is unfortunate that hounds engaged in a drag hunt were involved in the death of the cat However...dogs have been known to chase and kill cats..it is sad and unfortunate that this happened however to claim that this is inexcusable is the same as saying that drivers in Cars who accidently run over cats on roads should not be excused for their action and also be vilifiled. This incident was an accident and not some evil hollywood horror movie with devil hounds tracking down grannys lil,ol pussy cat....

It was also very sad that an eldely cat was allowed out by its owners on this occasion. I always make sure to keep pets / stock in a safe area when I know hounds are out, More especially when they live near to a right of way.

One strange point in this story is the photo of the cat. From the photo of the cat - the cat really looks unmauled or in any way bloody or torn yet the article states that ..."They feared the worst when they later found blood on the ground and realised their elderly tabby was missing....The couple said they were alerted by the sound of the hounds and a huntsman was later seen ‘riding off with something bloodied in his hand." I have cats and seen many dead cats - even if someone cleaned up the cat I have some doubts it could look as good it does in the photo. - Is this a photo of the actual cat dead?

It is sad the cat died but this was an accident it is unfortunate that some individuals chose to make a soap box incident out of it..

 

[s4sugar]

For Crikes sake would the bleeding hearts please read the article again..

OK From the Daily mail Article the following:

The hounds were legally involved in a drag hunt across land where there was a public right of way

The hounds came across the cat and very unfortunatly the death of the cat appeared to have been caused by the hounds actions (unfortunatly details here are rather unspecific)

The "huntsman" intravened with the hounds, got of his horse and took the cat away from the hounds

The "hunstman" admitted that he believed the hounds were at fault and apologised to the owners of the cat

The cat was returned to its owners (the bag in which it was carried is immaterial - would it have been any better in a fertlister sack or even a cat food bag?)

The incident was reported to the police, but after an investigation officers decided to take no further action.


It is very sad that the cat died, it is unfortunate that hounds engaged in a drag hunt were involved in the death of the cat However...dogs have been known to chase and kill cats..it is sad and unfortunate that this happened however to claim that this is inexcusable is the same as saying that drivers in Cars who accidently run over cats on roads should not be excused for their action and also be vilifiled. This incident was an accident and not some evil hollywood horror movie with devil hounds tracking down grannys lil,ol pussy cat....

It was also very sad that an eldely cat was allowed out by its owners on this occasion. I always make sure to keep pets / stock in a safe area when I know hounds are out, More especially when they live near to a right of way.

One strange point in this story is the photo of the cat. From the photo of the cat - the cat really looks unmauled or in any way bloody or torn yet the article states that ..."They feared the worst when they later found blood on the ground and realised their elderly tabby was missing....The couple said they were alerted by the sound of the hounds and a huntsman was later seen ‘riding off with something bloodied in his hand." I have cats and seen many dead cats - even if the hunt cleaned up the cat I have some doubts it could look as good it does in the photo. - Is this a photo of the actual cat dead?

It is sad the cat died but this was an accident it is unfortunate that some individuals chose to make a soap box incident out of it..

Well said. The cat was not in a secure garden and the hounds were in on a right of way. This is unfortunate and the dog food bag was possibly a bit insensitive but if the cat had been run over by a horse or a cyclist would there be the same outcry?
The owners must be devastated but part of this will be guilt that they allowed their deaf cat into a dangerous situation.
I don't let my cats (I have 6) roam at all but would not dream of letting a deaf cat out.

 

[babymare]

my dear god - ok i have seen some stuff on this forum but tonight beats it - FFS it was a family cat - yes aged and blind and do you know that what makes it worse - ok anti hunt or pro hunting admit this is wrong - FFS there is a family grieving their ******ing friend - stop getting on high horse about the hunt - ok it shouldnt have happened but it has - stop pointing blame stop trying to ******ing explain - lets all just give our thoughts to the owners the family the people who loved that very aged and very good looking cat - i have sobbed when mine went so no doubt they have and personally i find some comments on here so so damn bad - guys imagine if it was your horse your friend and my cats were my friends

 

[muffinmunsh]

Unfortunate incident ...
But returning the dead body in a dog food bag is imsensitive, disgusting and inexcusable.

 

[HeatherAnn]

Can't believe the double standards of people on this forum. I've read some nasty things on here but I think this is the worst.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

my dear god - ok i have seen some stuff on this forum but tonight beats it - FFS it was a family cat - yes aged and blind and do you know that what makes it worse - ok anti hunt or pro hunting admit this is wrong - FFS there is a family grieving their ******ing friend - stop getting on high horse about the hunt - ok it shouldnt have happened but it has - stop pointing blame stop trying to ******ing explain - lets all just give our thoughts to the owners the family the people who loved that very aged and very good looking cat - i have sobbed when mine went so no doubt they have and personally i find some comments on here so so damn bad - guys imagine if it was your horse your friend and my cats were my friends

^5 this
I cant imagine what the family is going through regardless of where the cat was FFS it was out and about like it prob did every day. If the hunt are going to get that close to private dwellings they should have the decency in letting the houses know that the hunt is coming through so they can make arrangements for their pets to be inside.

My thoughts and condolences go to the family and RIP dear sweet Molly

 

[chocolate_cake]

my dear god - ok i have seen some stuff on this forum but tonight beats it - FFS it was a family cat - yes aged and blind and do you know that what makes it worse - ok anti hunt or pro hunting admit this is wrong - FFS there is a family grieving their ******ing friend - stop getting on high horse about the hunt - ok it shouldnt have happened but it has - stop pointing blame stop trying to ******ing explain

The owners have chosen to go to the press over it, knowing the story and their photographs would be in the press.. Not surprising people are discussing it really?

 

[babymare]

thank you levia - some sense in a narrow minded forum - aged ugly old does it matter - to the family my heart goes to you my thoughts - i hope your little cat is happy chasing mice around the stars - loved on earth and think when you look to stars your little friend will be looking back purring - hugs to people i dont know but to who my heart goes to xxxx

 

[Cadfael&Coffee]

A regrettable accident -but in my opinion an accident it remains. I also can't help but wonder what the cat was doing wandering around outside in the first place if it was both old and deaf.

Either way, my dog once chased the neighbours cat that came into our garden, the cat bolted the fence straight onto the road and was killed. I felt awful and apologised, but it was still only an accident.

Perhaps the huntsman should have been in better control but we can't comment on circumstances without knowing all the facts. They admitted their fault and apologised - not alot more they could have done.

A regrettable end, but an end none the less.

^^ i couldnt have put it better myself.

there's no way in hell i would have let my elderly deaf animal wander around the countryside whilst the hunt goes past!!! i am not saying it was their fault, but i do feel that the blame goes both ways in this horrible accident.

thank heavens it looks like the poor thing died quickly tho

the pet food bag was definitely a tad insensitive, even a box would have been better

 

[Fiagai]

The owners have chosen to go to the press over it, knowing the story and their photographs would be in the press.. Not surprising people are discussing it really?

True and yes it is sad that the cat died. There is really no need for over dramitisation as it is clear this was an accident - and not a deliberate act, and it is obvious that most posters do feel sorry for the owners...

 

[chocolate_cake]

True and yes it is sad that the cat died. There is really no need for over dramitisation as it is clear this was an accident - and not a deliberate act, and it is obvious that most posters do feel sorry for the owners...

I think everyone does feel bad about the cat, and his owners. No, it's not nice, my housemate's elderly cat was killed by the neighbours staffies a while ago, when they escaped into our garden. A terrible accident

 

[ester]

. If the hunt are going to get that close to private dwellings they should have the decency in letting the houses know that the hunt is coming through so they can make arrangements for their pets to be inside.

How do you know they didn't? It doesn't say they didn't and it would be most unusual even if there was a footpath for the owners of the land not to be informed prior to the hunt taking place.

I would still assume they require the landowners permission, footpath or no footpath as horses aren't allowed on footpaths.

 

[babymare]

so fiagai can we not stop argung and a forum say to the family we feel for you that we hope their mate thier frind is happy as we do to so many in here - i dont know them as you dont but their loss is hard xx

 

[TheEquineOak]

So who feels sorry for all the mice and birds this cat may have killed throughout it's happy 18 years? Anyone??

Cat hunts Mouse, Dog hunts Cat.

It's terribley unfortunate and I would be tremendously upset if it were my cat, however, you cannot interfere with the natural order.

 

[Fantasy_World]

Speaking as a true cat lover I would be devastated if it was my cat.
However this incident was an ACCIDENT.
Whilst I agree that the cat's body should have been returned in something a bit more sympathetic than an empty dog food sack at least it was returned.
Think of all the cats that get killed ( no doubt some deliberately) on our roads every day and how many of these unfortunate animals end up back with their owners?
Very few!
Even if your cat was chipped how can you guarantee that every animal is scanned when it is picked up. That is if it does get picked up and animal doesn't crawl off to die a slow and agonising death in undergrowth.
Having seen 2 cats killed by motorists ( as well as the bodies of cats on roads) none of whom stopped to check on what they had hit then it is quite clear to see that many people have scant regard for pets as they do for wildlife on roads as well.
In one of the cases it was quite safe for the driver to have stopped and gone back to check, they did not. Other was virtually impossible as it was on a busy main road in the dark. Although I hasten to add that I managed to get across to that cat which was left at the mercy of other vehicles. RSPCA were called and cat taken to a local vet but it died before the vet arrived. Still at least I did something so that animal died in someone's arms surrounded by warmth ( my coat) and soft words.
I think this cat if it was indeed killed by a pack of hounds was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Although I must also add that if this cat was supposed to have been caught by dogs that it would have more marks on its body than it has.
Something doesn't add up for me on this one?
Also if the cat was deaf and hunts were known to frequent the area as well as a nearby footpath which as we all know in the countryside fields and footpaths = dog walkers, then why was it out? Especially in winter.
Unless I had a very safe and secure garden which had very high fencing or hedges I would not be letting a cat that was elderly and also deaf into my garden

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

How do you know they didn't? It doesn't say they didn't and it would be most unusual even if there was a footpath for the owners of the land not to be informed prior to the hunt taking place.

I would still assume they require the landowners permission, footpath or no footpath as horses aren't allowed on footpaths.

doesnt say they did either

one would asume they didnt otherwise i put money the familey would have kept moppet in

 

[ester]

doesnt say they did either

one would asume they didnt otherwise i put money the familey would have kept moppet in

all assumptions though either way isn't it.

 

[lula]

So who feels sorry for all the mice and birds this cat may have killed throughout it's happy 18 years? Anyone??

Cat hunts Mouse, Dog hunts Cat.

It's terribley unfortunate and I would be tremendously upset if it were my cat, however, you cannot interfere with the natural order.

Ah, so all dog owners are perfectly justified in letting their dogs loose to kill cats now and no one can complain about it because we mustnt interfere with the natural order?
dont be so ridiculous!

anyway, i feel terribly sorry for the cats owners..and golly dont they look miserable in that newspaper picture?!!..but these things happen i agree. Hunt did the best they could in the circs.

('xcept for that pedigree dog food bag ofcourse. Someone had an evil sense of humour me thinks! )

 

[Shantara]

So who feels sorry for all the mice and birds this cat may have killed throughout it's happy 18 years? Anyone??

Cat hunts Mouse, Dog hunts Cat.

It's terribley unfortunate and I would be tremendously upset if it were my cat, however, you cannot interfere with the natural order.

Dogs don't 'hunt' cats. Like someone else said, dogs chase things that move and aim to stop them moving. Cats hunt mice to eat, dogs rarely eat cats or anything else they catch. A black lab once destroyed an entire colony of rabbits...40+...didn't eat a single one of them.

I feel extremely sorry for the animals my cat used to catch and we did our best to save them.

It's not the 'natural order'.

 

[TheEquineOak]

Ah, so all dog owners are perfectly justified in letting their dogs loose to kill cats now and no one can complain about it because we mustnt interfere with the natural order?
dont be so ridiculous!

Where did I say that all dog owners should let their dogs loose to kill cats? Do not over exaggurate.

Where did I say that we should not interfere with natural order? I certainly did not say that. Again, do not over exaggurate.

Dogs chase cats, we all know it.

And to the person that said cats eat the mice and birds... yeah sure, maybe 40% of the time. 60% of the time its dumped on the owners doorstep. A 'present' apparently.

 

[Shantara]

It's terribley unfortunate and I would be tremendously upset if it were my cat, however, you cannot interfere with the natural order.

You said it right there.

Cat's give us 'presents' because they probably see us as the leader of the group and we should feed first. Lions let the males eat first, dispite the lionesses having caught it.

 

[lula]

So who feels sorry for all the mice and birds this cat may have killed throughout it's happy 18 years? Anyone??

Cat hunts Mouse, Dog hunts Cat.

It's terribley unfortunate and I would be tremendously upset if it were my cat, however, you cannot interfere with the natural order.

'Where did I say that we should not interfere with natural order? I certainly did not say that. Again, do not over exaggurate.'


Equine Oak. :

How on earth am i 'over exaggerating'? Yes you certainly did say that. your original quote is in the box above ^^^

 

[lula]

You said it right there.

thankyou annie.
God forbid i should be accused of making things up!

 

[meandmrblue]

I own a deaf cat and if it'd happened to mine, I would not just be sad, but bl**dy furious.
Although the loss of life is exactly the same with anything (Fox, cat, horse, human, dog, tiger...whatever) there's more emotion and feeling tied in with a pet.
I don't blame the dogs for killing the cat, I blame the owners who were not able to control them. Who's to say they wouldn't rip a child to bits if it 'panicked' and ran? I know cats more closely resemble foxes, but the idea is the same.

When my dog could hear (I know, 2 deaf animals haha) I could call her off the chase, even sheep. (she's a collie)

Whatever hunt it was should train their dogs better. A family lost a precious pet, because of lack of training.

Poor thing

agree

 

[TheEquineOak]

You said it right there.

Cat's give us 'presents' because they probably see us as the leader of the group and we should feed first. Lions let the males eat first, dispite the lionesses having caught it.

Appologies

I wonder if your cat gets peaved when you pick up his nights work and chuck it away!

Our farm cats don't bring anything back, greedy sods

 

[Ravenwood]

I have an elderly, epileptic, one eyed (hardly any sight in the other) cat who is probably quite deaf as well! She spends nearly all her time either asleep in the shed or asleep in the house but I do not restrict her movements at any time. I have three dogs myself, there are various farmdogs, spaniels and terriers across the road who are all left to roam and the hunt comes around regularly.

If she was killed by hounds, the dogs over the road or God forbid one of my own whose fault would it be?

Would it be my fault for not keeping her shut up 24/7 or only let out under supervision? (doesn't sound like much of a life for a cat) or would it be the fault of the dog/hound owner?

We have three hunts round here and even though I am pro hunting, I have no idea what days they will be in the area and tbf they could be meeting miles away and still end up here!

Consequently, surely you have to take a balance, an informed and experienced judgement on pet ownership. We all live with risk every single day of our life but we don't let ourselves be ruled by it.

I think this was tragic (I too would be upset if my cat were killed by a dog) but I would never, ever go running to a tabloid - what exactly was the point of that?

 

[Shantara]

I have an elderly, epileptic, one eyed (hardly any sight in the other) cat who is probably quite deaf as well! She spends nearly all her time either asleep in the shed or asleep in the house but I do not restrict her movements at any time. I have three dogs myself, there are various farmdogs, spaniels and terriers across the road who are all left to roam and the hunt comes around regularly.

If she was killed by hounds, the dogs over the road or God forbid one of my own whose fault would it be?

Would it be my fault for not keeping her shut up 24/7 or only let out under supervision? (doesn't sound like much of a life for a cat) or would it be the fault of the dog/hound owner?

We have three hunts round here and even though I am pro hunting, I have no idea what days they will be in the area and tbf they could be meeting miles away and still end up here!

Consequently, surely you have to take a balance, an informed and experienced judgement on pet ownership. We all live with risk every single day of our life but we don't let ourselves be ruled by it.

I think this was tragic (I too would be upset if my cat were killed by a dog) but I would never, ever go running to a tabloid - what exactly was the point of that?

Well said!
Although I'm not pro hunting, I am on a yard who's very pro hunting and I have no idea when they go out or where. Sometimes they come through the village and they give us no warning.
I wouldn't go to the tabloid either, I would perhaps set up something on facebook, or just let word of mouth do it's job or even post on here....but newspaper? No.

 

[Marydoll]

Can the bunny huggers please leave the building! If you want to discuss it make your way to the hunting section.

For the record I like cats, I have one. I am in favour of hunting but don't currently hunt.

What an Arrogant dismissive comment, its comments like yours that give anti hunting people their ammunition.
I would in no way class myself as a "bunny hugger", again a snide dismissive label on here for people who care, i do think this incident, from the loss of control of the pack, to the disgusting way the dead PET was returned to the owners was deplorable.

 

[jeeve]

These kind of things can happen. Our old cat was killed by two of our dogs when she made a run for it,, and they both chased and caught her. Of course my mum and dad were really upset. The cat was about 18 years old and made a misjudgement.

 

[hackneylass2]

'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.'

Another cheap dig at hunting??? I think they were perfectly entitled.

I bet, as REAL animal lovers (as opposed to animal users) they were devastated and wanted the public to know what some hunts think about the destruction of their friend of 18 years.

The dog food bag says it all. There is no excuse for that in any way.