Dog sentenced to death for attacking a cat

[Serephin]

I am just having a hard time with the fact that some people have dogs that are a danger to cats.

Growing up we had a pack of 10 dogs, various breeds, but the majority of them worked. We had terriers for ratting and labs for shooting - we also did puppy walking for the hunt. We also had a lot of cats.

The dogs and cats were always roaming free together and never did one of those dogs ever harm the cats. They would occasionally chase but only for fun, never maliciously as they knew it was unacceptable. One of our cats would writhe and butt up against the dogs and roll around in front of them.

Our one year old schnauzer puppy knows it is wrong to chase our cats and gets reprimanded if the thought even crosses her mind. To my mind it is something that should be trained out of a dog.

 

[s4sugar]

I let cats outside because its what they enjoy. Just like I turn my horse out rather than stabling 24/7 to avoid injury. The benefit for me outweighs the risks.
My friends dog killed a cat in their back garden, like a terrier with a rat so too quick to intervene. She was understandably upset, but it wasn't anybodys fault.

But you don't let your horse run free - it is confined to a paddock or field.
Fifty years ago people let dogs roam and now few owners are unenlightened enough to do so.
Cats can be confined to a garden and I know many people who have made outdoor space that is safe for their cats but many cats lead happy (& long ) lives never going outside.

A dog on cat attack does not mean that dog is a danger to humans but the reported case was of a dog out of control in a public place -& not for the first time.

 

[Littlelegs]

Serephin- a field isn't any safer than roaming is to my cats in my situation. I have had semi feral farm cats that would have no problem if a loose dog strayed up there. And a house cat (we don't live at the farm) who is used to dogs, doesn't go out of sight (except if she's close by but hiding), is used to but respectful of dogs, & we don't have problems with either out of control dogs or any in gardens nearby who have any chance of catching her, let alone harming her. Maybe if my neighbours had working lurchers in their garden, or I had heavy traffic outside I might act differently. But for me, it works.