Pit Bull is attacked by a cat in its own yard...

[HarleysMom]

http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=15280

I have to agree with the owners--if this would have been her dog attacking the cat it would be posted all over the news and bringing down this wonderful breed more--

[Ritz459]

Geez...I sympathize with the owner. That would bug me to death...and to bad this wasn't publisized more...then people would think cats are vicious and Pitties are harmless!

[Carrie]

That cat's luck will probably run out one of these days.

[calgal]

This may spark a lot of people to try and get a law that cats should have the same rules as dogs. If I had a cat it most certainly wouldn't be allowed to roam the neighborhood where any number of things could happen to them, not to mention all the fleas they bring into the home.

[rottnpagan]

Originally Posted by calgal

This may spark a lot of people to try and get a law that cats should have the same rules as dogs. If I had a cat it most certainly wouldn't be allowed to roam the neighborhood where any number of things could happen to them, not to mention all the fleas they bring into the home.

My rottweiler was attacked by a cat two years ago and made the local paper. (I've the article somewhere, and if I find it, I'll transcribe it). It did spawn a cat bylaw, that's still in development. They toyed with a leash requirement but scrapped it. Instead they have a responsibility clause, in which a cat owner is responsible for their feline, if it does damage to property or persons. Since dogs are property, they would fall under that section.

I was extremely upset by the lack of concern that was presented to me. I couldn't even demand proof of vaccination, even of rabies, because legally they don't have to have it. Which is BULL, IMO.

It certainly would have been a different story if it were MY dog that attacked the CAT.

[Barrett]

My cats are indoor only. I have let one of my cats out in the backyard before but only when my husband and I can watch her and we definetly have our runners on incase she goes over the fense. She isn't allowed out very often so she is interested enough to stay in the yard. When she looks a little too comfortable we pick her up and bring her inside. I don't really think she knows she could climb the fense, LOL, she had never tried before. She puts her paws up on the fense and meows to us to pick her up. I agree cats should not be allowed to roam. We have tons of stray cats around here. Over a year ago I woke up to a ruckus going on under my window...looked out to see about 15 cats on and around my car. They sprayed my tires!!! YUCK!!

[fluffypuppylover]

On one hand, I can see where cats should not be allowed to roam and should have leash laws. On the other, I can see how that would never fly with a good deal of cat owners. Cats can't be trained to sit still and get a collar/leash/harness on and they can wriggle out of most of them in the blink of an eye. If cats weren't allowed outside, I can either see cat ownership falling or declawing rates rising, because the biggest reason for outsides cats is normally that people don't want their homes/stuff wrecked. At least here in the US anyway.

I don't ever see something like that getting passed though. Even the responsibility clause is sketchy as most cats don't wear ID like dogs do because of the whole refusing to wear a collar thing. I can't even get my two kitties, who are strictly indoor and only ever see the outside through a screen/carrier, to keep their collars and tags on for more than a few hours. No matter what kind of collar I try, they maneuver out of it as soon as they want to. Not to mention you have a whole load of people who feed and care for cats and refuse to lay claim to them when the time for vaccinations, vet bills, etc come around. Its just a stray to them then.

It'd be great if all those things changed and people did have to start taking responsibility for their cats, so things like that didn't happen. Even on our walks, I have to be careful for roaming cats around Abbie. She may not mind them, but i've had more than a few felines who came over to Abbie and if she made any sort of move, they'd swipe at her. I'm the neighborhood meanie because any cat that approaches that doesn't have an owner in sight gets stomped and yelled at until it backs away. I'm not risking Abbie catching anything or getting scratched because people don't want to be responsible.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Originally Posted by rottnpagan

My rottweiler was attacked by a cat two years ago and made the local paper. (I've the article somewhere, and if I find it, I'll transcribe it). It did spawn a cat bylaw, that's still in development. They toyed with a leash requirement but scrapped it. Instead they have a responsibility clause, in which a cat owner is responsible for their feline, if it does damage to property or persons. Since dogs are property, they would fall under that section.

I was extremely upset by the lack of concern that was presented to me. I couldn't even demand proof of vaccination, even of rabies, because legally they don't have to have it. Which is BULL, IMO.

It certainly would have been a different story if it were MY dog that attacked the CAT.

I agree, there should at least be a responsibility clause and feline owners should be required to produce proof of vaccination. I see no reason why feline owners should be held less accountable for the actions of their cats.

[elegy]

here are pictures of luce after she lost a fight with a cat in my parents' backyard





now, she went after the cat first, but the cat was on my parents' property. i could have ended up with major vet bills if the cat had scratched her eye. and goodness knows, if she had hurt the cat instead of the other way around, i'd have felt terrible AND been liable (not that the cat had a collar or id).

i have four cats. three are indoor only. one is supposed to be indoor only but he's excellent at escaping during the summer. all four wear collars with id tags at all times.

dawn capp, btw, is the founder of chako, a breed advocacy, anti-bsl group. lots of cool stuff on the website.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Poor Luce

[linnie]

Poor Poor luce. I always worry about cats scratching a dogs eye .
She sure came off the worse for wear
In Australia they have fairly strict laws regarding cats roaming.

[flyndog]

Grrr. Leash laws petain to pets, not just dogs. More cat owners abuse the leash law than dog owners. I have never had a dog curled up in the engine of my truck, or leave paw prints on my wax job. There a many more feral cats than dogs. Cats need to be controlled by their owners. They should not be allowed to roam. Poor Pit Bulls. Maybe we need SSL - species specific legislation.

[rottnpagan]

Originally Posted by fluffypuppylover

I don't ever see something like that getting passed though. Even the responsibility clause is sketchy as most cats don't wear ID like dogs do because of the whole refusing to wear a collar thing.

That's what microchipping and licensing is for though. Mandatory. For all animals.

I'd love to see that.

[fluffypuppylover]

Originally Posted by rottnpagan

That's what microchipping and licensing is for though. Mandatory. For all animals.

I'd love to see that.

I definetly agree. That would solve so many problems in the animal world.

[DaisySunshine]

Size of cat: 20 lbs tops

Size of dog: 50 lbs?

Sorry I side with the cat. She had a right to defend herself if she felt threatened no matter whose yard she was in.

Reason why we don't hear about cat attacks more often. Cats (generally) don't put people in the hospital.

I have three cats and they are all indoors. I don't let them outside for their own protection not because I am afraid they are going to go out and maul a dog or a child.

However, I do agree with the microchipping and licensing of all critters no matter the species.