cat attacked by greyhound

jillie1974

our gorgeous cat was attacked by a greyhound today. We have only just been able to get near to him to examine hin properly. his claws on one foot are missing and he has 1 claw missing on another. he also has puncture wounds near his behind and there is a large bite mark on his body as well. it also looks like his tail has been damaged as well
The greyhound itself has jumped over the fence in their own garden across another garden to get to our cat!!!
Obviously in the morning we will be taking him to the vet but where do we go from here??
i want something done bout this!!
the fence between the gardens in question is only bout 3-4ft high and surely if you are keeping a dog of any sort you must make sure that your dog cannot escape or attack/worry other pets!!
i dread to think what would have happened if this had been a younger cat or god forbid a child...
so... what is our best course of action???

pboae

Have you spoken to your vet? If not I would ring and check that they are happy for you to wait till the morning to take your cat in, he might be better going in tonight. It sounds like he has some pretty serious bite wounds and could also go into shock.

Have you spoken to the owners yet? What sort of reaction did you get? I would hope that as a minimum they would offer to pay your vet bills and promise to get proper fencing put up (assuming they are allowed, are there any rules or regulations as to what fencing is allowed on your properties?).

If the dog's owners are not helpful, then unfortunately you are going to have a real struggle to get anything done. Trespass laws do not apply to dogs, and if the dog has got into your garden of its own accord (i.e. the owners have not encouraged or co-oerced it) then no law has been broken. You may be able to sue the owner for any damage caused, but it's a bit of a grey area.

It may be that the only practical option open to you is to fence your garden off. Either way, your first stop should be the local dog warden for proper advice.

So the easiest, quickest and cheapest way to deal with this relies on the co-operation of the owner, you need to bear that in mind when you are speaking to them. However angry and upset you must be, try to remain calm and rational about it.

Many greyhounds are specifically trained to chase small furry creatures purely for the entertainment of humans. They won't all make the distinction between cats and other prey animals. At the end of the day it is just a dog being dog, just as cats are just being cats when they kill, maim and terrorise birds and other wildlife. There is absolutely no reason to think that the dog concerned would be any more or less likely to attack a child than any other dog (or cat) would.

I hope you cat recovers quickly, it must have been terribly frightening for him.

jillie1974

thanks
we are taking him to the vet 1st thing well at 9.45am
he has slept last night but isnt himself at all..
am calling in to neighbour when we get back from the vets.
and i agree the very least she should do is pay the bill.
will defo think bout calling dog warden as well,..

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Just read your post and just want to say I hope your cat is ok.Having had problems with neighbours over cats/dogs I have to agree with pboae when she says try to remain calm.Even the friendliest neighbours can turn nasty in situations like this.Main thing is that your little cat is ok and you have gotton over the shock.x

lady_stardust

If you have pet insurance I think under these circumstances they will want to speak to the neighbour as they will probably try and claim the costs back from the neighbour's insurance (under liability cover, and assuming that the neighbour has pet insurance) so if they are not co-operative you may want to remind them of that.

JennyW_2

jillie1974 wrote: »

our gorgeous cat was attacked by a greyhound today. We have only just been able to get near to him to examine hin properly. his claws on one foot are missing and he has 1 claw missing on another. he also has puncture wounds near his behind and there is a large bite mark on his body as well. it also looks like his tail has been damaged as well
The greyhound itself has jumped over the fence in their own garden across another garden to get to our cat!!!
Obviously in the morning we will be taking him to the vet but where do we go from here??
i want something done bout this!!
the fence between the gardens in question is only bout 3-4ft high and surely if you are keeping a dog of any sort you must make sure that your dog cannot escape or attack/worry other pets!!
i dread to think what would have happened if this had been a younger cat or god forbid a child...
so... what is our best course of action???

I'm sorry to hear about your cat. I am a greyhound owner myself (I also have a collie). For starters, a 3-4ft fence is not high enough for ANY dog so this would need to be addressed with the neighbour. Unfortuantely dogs chase cats, its nature, just as cats chase mice, but understandly, everything needs to be done in order to prevent dogs and cats coming into contact.

The comment about "god forbid a child" was not totally fair :cool: . There are many dogs which have a high chase instinct for cats and squirrels, greyhounds being one of them. My grey would chase squirrels for days if she was allowed but adores humans

I'm sue if you approach the owners they would be happy to help with vet bills, I know I would be.

Mely

Im so sorry about whats happened to your cat. How did he get on in the vets this morning?
I agree with what has already been said about keeping calm when talking to the dogs owners, and that they should definately pay AT LEAST part of your vets costs. The fence is totally inadequate...especially to keep in a greyhound! So untill they put up a higher fence i would definately take extra carefull care of your cat!
I dont own a greyhound although i know they make excellent pets. They do however (as has already been mentioned) have a very strong instinct to go for small animals and wouldnt differentiate between a rabbit or a cat. That wouldnt mean that children would be at risk in any way. The OWNERS of the dog are at fault in this case NOT the dog...as they failed to have the correct fencing, as they must have known it was totally inadequate.

jillie1974

thanks everyone for their comments..
Charlieis doing ok.. luckily none of the wounds were too serious.. has had 2 injections (poor thing) and i've got to give him some meds everyday.
have called to neighbour re the bill but has not been in/ ansering door when i have called so will try and speak to her over the weekend..
Jenny apologies for the comment re child it was said when i was very upset and angry as my cats are my children (for the moment)

pboae

I'm not surprised you were upset, and I don't think anyone will hold it against you under the circumstances! ;-)

It's good to hear he is doing better now, poor little cat :-( I think we should have a picture of him too :-D

It's disappointing that the owner hasn't been round to see you. I would be devastated if my dog had done something like that. It might be an idea to give the dog warden a ring and just have a chat with them about what's happened. At least then there is a record of it.

JennyW_2

jillie1974 wrote: »

thanks everyone for their comments..
Charlieis doing ok.. luckily none of the wounds were too serious.. has had 2 injections (poor thing) and i've got to give him some meds everyday.
have called to neighbour re the bill but has not been in/ ansering door when i have called so will try and speak to her over the weekend..
Jenny apologies for the comment re child it was said when i was very upset and angry as my cats are my children (for the moment)

I'm glad Charlie is OK and nothing too serious. Perserve with your neighbour - are you on good terms?

kathryn196

So pleased that Charlie is doing ok.
Kath