A Moral Dilema

[furbabymum]

I'm having an inner struggle. Our dogs have now caught and killed 2 cats in 3 days. We have never had a predator issue before because of the dogs. I figure they can't resist the lure of chickens. Our dogs are kept inside of a dog run and we have 40 acres so these cats are crossing a lot of open acreage and getting into the dog run (which connects to the chicken run/coop). I'm happy my dogs are taking care of these would be chicken eaters but I'm now struggling with what to tell my neighbor.

I never saw the first cat. My husband took care of it and his description was, "It was dark." I have a pretty good idea which of my neighbors have what cats. Yesterdays dead cat was definitely our immediate neighbors. We get along with them pretty well and I know that he's merely adopted these strays as his own. However, he talks of them with affection and I know he would be upset to know that at least one of them is dead at our hands. Do I tell him or do I leave him to wonder why they aren't coming around anymore? These are not dog people and I do not know that they would understand.

 

[Stumpy]

My first thought is, wouldn't you expect to eventually be in a conversation with this neighbor in which he might ask, "Have you seen my cat" ? I know this is so difficult, but I think it might be better in the long run if you told him up front, and explained that the cat actually entered the dog run.

 

[zazouse]

Why on earth would the cats come where dogs are in the first place, vey strange. cats ain't normally that dumb.
I don't know what i would do, never had it happen with a tame critter.

I would just make sure your dogs could never be loose to get a cat at someone elses place, might end up doing more damage than just to the cat, like tear a car up cause the cat was on it or under the hood hiding.

 

[furbabymum]

Why on earth would the cats come where dogs are in the first place, vey strange. cats ain't normally that dumb.
I don't know what i would do, never had it happen with a tame critter.

I would just make sure your dogs could never be loose to get a cat at someone elses place, might end up doing more damage than just to the cat, like tear a car up cause the cat was on it or under the hood hiding.

Our dogs can't get out of the run. It's taken a lot of money to finally get the run dog escape proof so there is no way they are leaving it and then returning with dead animals.

The only thing I can figure is they are trying to get into the chickens and are going into the dog run to do it.

 

[TeamChaos]

That is a hard one. Honestly, I think I would tell him that you found a deceased cat on your property and that "something" had gotten it. I wouldn't deny the possibility of the "something" being the dogs, nor would I come right out and say it because even though it IS your property, dogs that kill cats get a really bad reputation amongst a lot of folks.

 

[furbabymum]

That is a hard one. Honestly, I think I would tell him that you found a deceased cat on your property and that "something" had gotten it. I wouldn't deny the possibility of the "something" being the dogs, nor would I come right out and say it because even though it IS your property, dogs that kill cats get a really bad reputation amongst a lot of folks.

A cat that killed a chicken is even worse but I understand what you are saying. If they had stayed out of the dog run there is no way that my dogs could have gotten them. It almost seems like suicide to me. We did bury them. I don't know. I'm having a hard time feeling badly about this. I'm mostly afraid of upsetting our relationship with the neighbors.

 

[jak2002003]

Don't tell him!!!

If he cared for the cats properly he would not be letting them out to fend for themselves. Most responsible cat owners (and also owners of expensive breeds of cat) will keep them as house pets and only allow them out under supervision or in a large cat run.

Cats do a lot of damage to wildlife and also can be a health risks with parasites in their poop easily getting transmitted to kids playing in the garden who get the poop on their hands.

I think the government should have the same laws and rules for keeping cats as they do for dogs. Last year a neighbours cat killed and injured many of my pet parakeets and finches in my aviary by grabbing them through the wire mesh. There was nothing I could do to stop them. They also pooped all over my garden, sprayed up my wall, got into my trash, and made noise fighting at night. If my dog had been getting into their garden and killing their pet rabbits then that would be a different story!

I hope the guy is not too upset about them 'disappearing'. If he talks to you about it, maybe you can suggest that if he gets a new cat he keep it as a house pet.

There are so many dangers to cats out there. Roads, dogs, some sick people, traps, getting locked in a outhouse of sheds, poison from scavenging, killed by sleeping in a car engine etc.

 

[speckledhen]

I had this exact same issue at our last neighborhood. We moved in, put up a really nice black vinyl-coated chainlink fence for our dogs. My older dog had a super high prey drive and in succession, over a period of time, he killed THREE cats without suffering a scratch himself. They each jumped in but never got out of the fence. The flyer would be posted "Fluffy is Missing" and I knew what happened to Fluffy each time.

I never told anyone what happened to their cat because my dog was in his fence and their cat was off their property where it did not belong. To avoid neighborhood confrontation, seemed the best course of action at the time. Our society is so litigious, people will sue over anything, even if they are clearly in the wrong.

 

[Mike Winters]

as speckled hens sig says A dog on its owner's property is a pet; A dog on someone else's property is a predator~ this also applys to cats your dogs where just doing their job if the neighbor doesnt know it was your dogs that killed their cat then why do they need to know.

 

[Cluky]

Although I agree with people that the dog was in the right. Cat was wrong and got in trouble for it. When it comes to your neighbour, I would suggest not to say anything. I am a cat lover and not a dog person and i can tell you my cats can do no wrong Ha ha right or wrong that is the case.