Seeking Your Advice

One of my favourite blofriends wrote to me with this request:

I wondered if you would consider askin your readers advice on this situation, my readers may include one or both parties involved so I'm not sure my blo is a ood place to et advice.

My reply: Of course! So, please......

Imaine this:

"Last summer, you watched as your neihbors untrained dos manled the pet of another neihbor.  You tried to soothe your neihbor as she was very obviously upset over the actions of her dos, and found out later that she buried the remains of the other neihtbors' pet at her own parents house.

 

Now, you notice she is bein awfully friendly with the neihbor whose pet her dos had as an afternoon snack nearly a year ao.  This, after you recently asked if she had any intention of obedience trainin her purebreds and were lauhed away and made to feel incredibly stupid for thinkin dos shouldn't eat other critters on a daily basis.  You assume the topic of their recent friendly conversations is most likely how incredibly stupid you are for thinkin she shouldn't own any kind of animal at all.  You also assume that the (now petless) neihbor has never been informed of the events of last summer.

 

What do you do, as the taret of unsubstantiated slander from an uniformed victim?  Do you tell the petless neihbor why she was never able to find her cat?  Do you report the do owner for animal cruelty?  Lack of proper trainin?  Or do you quickly put a "For Sale" sin in your yard and move far, far away?"

Comments

[Utenzi]

Seeing a pet torn apart is a horrible experience. But it was a year ago. Time to move on...

[Pickalish]

OH my. I cannot BELIEVE that she didn't tell the neighbor her dogs killed her cat! That is horrible!!!!!!!!!! Someone needs to tell that neighbor what happened, whether anything comes of it or not. Shame on the dog owner.....SHAME!

[Mamacita]

I would mention, in casual conversation with the owner of the 'missing' cat, how sorry I was that the neighbor's dogs had killed her cat; it must have been terrible for her to lose it that way. I would tell her that I had seen the dogs kill the cat, and that I didn't blame her for waiting to replace something so precious. I would mention that it was really neighborly of her to not hold a grudge against the owner of the dogs who had murdered her cat.

[peri]

okay this sounds bad, but maybe

1. try to get someone else (yet another neighbor) to do the dirty work, be the bearer of bad news....

2. report it to the police

[Cheryl]

If you can do it without looking guilty or like you are stirring things up, I would praise the 'victim' neighbour, tell her what an inspiration she is, to be such a good friend to 'poor (other neighbour)' after the dogs tore her little animal to pieces like that.
Its risky but it lets her know whats going on without her having to wonder how much you know, or show to you that she never realised.
In the UK every time a dog bites or attacks it is reported to the police or the rspca and after two attacks I believe it is put down, training or no training.

[Janet]

I disagree vehemently with Utenzi; what if the next time your neighbor's untrained dog gets loose and "managles" a child? Report this neighbor and her dog right away, and apologize to the other neighbor for letting him/her suffer unneedlessly over the disappearance of his/her pet. Jesus.

[Courtney]

Stay out of it, at least on the telling the neighbor about her pet side of it. The dogs, however, if they're still obviously a menace, need to be reported to animal control in your town. At a minimum.

[sandy]

Whoah, I have to say I'm torn. As an owner of a trained dog that would go after a small animal regardless I think it's hard to say the dog neighbor is malicious. Was the dog loose or did the cat enter the dog's yard?

Remember, dogs are hunters. Dogs, no matter how well trained and/or fed will always act like the food they see is the last food they may get. My parent's dog is one of the best behaved animals I've ever seen. If one of my kids pulls on her or climbs on her, Syd licks and whines rather than nips and barks. Yet, any cat, squirrel, skunk, bird, etc entering her domain better watch out. Sydney will hunt them and if she gets them, she will kill and eat them.

If it were me I'd talk to the 'victim' neightbor and act dumb. I'd go the way some others have suggested. "How hard it must have been to loose your cat last year in such a horrific way." Let her ask what you're talking about and then you can you tell her what you saw.

But seriously, I'm not sure anyone could actually train a dog to not hunt smaller animals. If the dog was out wandering then there's an argument to be made - he/she ought to be confined to a fenced in yard or on a lead. If the cat entered the dog's yard - really, as a life long dog owner I'm not sure the neighbor in question is as awful as some thing. It is truly tragic and horrid to have witnessed, but it's not the act of a cruel untrained dog and an uncaring person.

[Jennie]

Why not - go to the owner of the dogs and say that you are getting the impression that the owner of the cat was never told what happened, and ask - "Is this true...you mean to tell me that your dogs killed a neighbors pet and you didn't own up to it?" (After all, people are responsible for their pets and what their pets do, whether that's crapping on a neighbors lawn, barking incessantly or killing a neighbor's pet. Yes, these are things dogs do, but a citizen who chooses to bring the animal into a neighborhood needs to make sure the animal doesn't create havoc in that neighborhood! And killing doesn't stop, they will do it again.)

So if the dog owner says that it is true, that she chose to hide what her dogs did to protect her own desires, why not say, "Hey, the cat owner needs to know that information, I think you should tell her and if you don't, I think I might feel compelled to do it."

I don't understand if the one who witnessed it is so upset, why he/she hasn't simply approached the one who upset her and talked about it!

[Busted]

Not only would I tell the neighbor that lost the pet what really happened but I would also report it. If those dogs (regardless of their breed history) attacked a not so small animal such as a cat then they could very well be a danger to other small things such as children.

Dog temperament is something that should not be taken lightly. If the dogs are trained after a mauling incident and they obey then GREAT! But if they do not then it's a sign of much bigger problems. Why take the chance of having some little kid or anyone for that matter, suffer the consequences of a bad dog owner?

BTW - I love dogs. I had one for 13 years which was a stray and attempted to attack many small animals until she was properly trained. My time invested into my dog was worth the peace of knowing she would never harm anyone or anything even if she was being hurt. It is NEVER ok for a dog to kill another animal, bit the hand of his/her owner or snap at a child for any reason EVER. Most people love to think they have a great pet but one who you have to tip toe around if it’s chewing on his bone or in a grouchy mood. NO you have an untrained pet and one that could snap at an unknowing visitor. That’s not ok and you need to take the proper action to train your pet.

Dogs aren't just 'things' to have they are a responsibility...if everyone understood that we would have less mauling and more loveable pets. I hate hearing that a dog had to be put to sleep simply because the OWNER didn’t take on the responsibility of training their dog.

[anniebird]

Interpersonal relationships aside, two dogs "hunting" together in the manner you've described are displaying predatory behavior. Janet's comment is right on the mark - these dogs may certainly become a threat to children, and it is their owner's responsibility to confront this unpleasant reality BEFORE they grossly disfigure a child. Tell the bereaved cat owner the truth, tell the dog owner that you've been honest about what you saw and informed the neighbor, and back up the importance of having done so with the opinion of a veterinarian (me) - the dogs are at risk of expanding their aggression to humans, and she is obligated to address this by consulting an animal behaviorist, bare minimum.

[Deana]

That is a bad situation. You have to tell your neighbor what the thugs did to her pet. And the neighborhood needs to make sure those dogs get some obedience training. She doesn't have the right to make your neighborhood an unpleasant place to live....and those dogs will kill again. As an owner of 2 7 month labs we have tried to work very hard to make them understand they cannot kill other creatures. It is just not acceptable.

[Jade]

I think you've got good insight on just the kind of person the neighbor is. While you did the kind thing by consoling her at the time, I think I'd take this new information and leave it alone. I'd probably put a big fence of trees up seperating the yards and pretend she didn't exist except to be civil and neighborly. If her dogs showed agressive or undiciplined behavior in the future I would not hesistate to call it in.

[wordnerd]

I agree 100% with mamacita's idea. These animals are vicious and should not be in a neighborhood where other pets and, more importantly, children run around. The neighbor with the missing pet should know, as should everyone else.

[Becky]

I would've told the petless neighbor a year ago as to why her cat never came home, and I would've called the police or Humane Society.

[Shannin]

I think the right thing to do is mention to the neighbor why her cat did not come home. I would be beside myself if my pet was lost and I had no idea what happened.

As a dog owner, it is my responsibility to make sure my dogs are properly restrained at all times. That means either on a leash out of the yard or in my fenced property. If an animal gets into my yard, I would do all possible to save it and if they injured or killed it, it would be also my responsibility to own up to it - just as they would have to own up to letting their pet wander.

[Thumper]

Ah, I'd just get 'em when they're both together and say to the catless one, "It's so nice you can be friends after her dog ate your kitty for dinner..."

I would have said something right after the fact, but presuming I didn't, yeah, I probably would do something like this.

[Keb]

I would do the same as Thumper. I'd casually mention that it is good to see adults acting as such, especially after the "episode". Then let them work it out. And watch your kids and pets.

[Phil]

You SHOULD have told the cat owner what happened at the time it happened. Bringing it up now will likely just come accross as vindictiveness. About the only way to mention it without sounding like you've just got a bone to pick is if your opinions about dog training get brought up in front of the cat owner neighbor . . . then you can simply respond along the lines of "Well, after seeing how vicious those dogs got with your cat, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect her to properly TRAIN her animals so no one else's pets or kids gets mauled to death."

I'm not sure that the authorities would do much about it considering the incident happened a year ago, but I'd definitely contact Animal Control and report the incident, no matter what. I'm a dog owner. I love dogs. And I think too many times, dogs wind up taking too much of the blame for some incidents, and they ALWAYS get the short end of the stick when it comes to punishment for wrong-doing. But your neighbor is exactly the type of owner who CAUSES these types of problems. She is exactly the kind of owner who raises dogs (however unintentionally) that wind up mauling an innocent bystander.

[Phil]

Oh, one more thing I just thought of. Even if Animal Control doesn't do anything directly because it's been too long, it'll still be on record that the owner knows the vicious behavior of the animals. That does, at least, give any future victims a little more recourse against her.

[Peaches]

I have a question about all this. Was the neighbor's cat in the yard with the dogs? If so, the cat was not in its yard and therefore was roaming around unrestrained (as they do). And dogs are dogs. They chase squirrels, they catch possums, whatever. They're animals. And if the cat was in their territory I say anything goes and it's the neighbor's fault for letting her cat roam the neighborhood.

However, if the dogs went into the neighbor's yard and caught the cat that's a different story.

Regardless...if you didn't tell her in the first place it's way too late now. However, if she gets another cat I'd gently suggest to her to keep it inside because one never knows what can happen to a cat roaming around a neighborhood with lots of dogs in yards...and leave it at that.