Dog Attack!!

[steve'n'sal]

We would be mortified if our cat got killed by a dog. She's approaching 20 years old and getting rather frail. We moved the chickens to the plot because the cat disapproved of them being in the garden. We'd hate to think of her last moments on this earth being tossed up and down like some kind of plaything

Dogs should be under the owners control at all times, dogs who repeatedly break free of their owners control need to be removed.

[Suechooks]

Irresponsible dog breeders

I believe the problem goes even further back, to the breeders of these dogs. I have bred dogs in the past and have been known to refuse to sell a dog if I felt the person/family were unsuitable to have one. However the indiscriminate breeding of some breeds has led to a population of dogs who are simply fashion accessories to show the "hard" character of the owner or parents who give in to children and buy a totally unsuitable "family" pet who is never taught boundaries or allowed to work or behave as a normal dog of its breed should as they do no research into the origins or expected character of their chosen breed. As the price of puppies goes up this irresponsible breeding will continue.

[Dashy]

Gosh, I can't imagine what it's like to see your chickens scared, in pain or dead. It's very hard not to be emotional when your beloved pets are hurt. I have a lab who would love nothing better than to 'sniff' around my chooks but he hasn't a hope. I don't think the poor husky should be penalised due to fault of the owners. I do agree to hit the owners where it hurts (in the back pocket that is). Unfortunately people can be more likely to do the right thing if its going to cost them not to. I don't have to worry about foxes but cats are all around me. On the topic of bad owners though, a poor Maltese was killed last night by an unaccompanied American pit bull wandering my local streets..

[OverWyreGrower]

May i suggest that if you find this dog running loose again, that you coax it into your car and take it to the nearest police station , do this every time you find it running loose. Once its owners have had to pay the kennel release fees a few times ( about 60 quid) , they will soon think twice about letting it run loose unsupervised. I would also give the local dog warden a call and inform them of what has happened, this might become a regular problem and you might need their support in the future .

Wren

Most police stations etc won't have anything to do with stray/roaming dogs anymore. Many areas now have designated boarding-kennels that you must take the dog to yourself, rather than handing it in to the police.

Mind you, would be worth finding out where your nearest hand-in point is though.... sadly ours is about 20 miles away, whereas the police station is only a mile away!!

[Eco-Chic]

We would be mortified if our cat got killed by a dog. She's approaching 20 years old and getting rather frail. We moved the chickens to the plot because the cat disapproved of them being in the garden. We'd hate to think of her last moments on this earth being tossed up and down like some kind of plaything

Dogs should be under the owners control at all times, dogs who repeatedly break free of their owners control need to be removed.

I have a cat too and she is very disapproving of my dogs and doesn't want anything to do with them so I have baby gates to keep the dogs downstairs and the cat is untroubled upstairs.

I think my dogs would probably be ok with my cat because they alert me when she wants to come in the house and they go crazy if they hear her swearing at other cats but it's not worth stressing my cat so I can indulge myself playing happy families.

[tlck9]

This unfortunately is a subject that I tend to get on my soap box about, so i'll try not to.

It isnt the dogs fault, it is the owners, A slip up is forgiven, constant escapism or lack of control is not acceptable and thus brings dog ownership and dogs in general into disrepute.

Having a friend with a HUsky cross it is more likely to sit on a chicken to keep it warm than kill it, so again its down to ownership and also temperament.

my springer would be a nightmare in direct contact with a chicken and I wouldnt trust him, however much I love him...I wouldnt put either my chucks or the dog through it. However he sits and watches the chucks and one even came up to the fence and sent him a flurry of boc boc boc and try it sonny and the dog moved away - but I woudnt trust him

However having had the opportunity to kill a squirrel during a visit to the local park and didnt I think he just enjoys chasing - but even that in the wrong situation would kill most animals from shock, so again best to keep it under control.

[CoraxAurata]

This unfortunately is a subject that I tend to get on my soap box about, so i'll try not to.

It isnt the dogs fault, it is the owners, A slip up is forgiven, constant escapism or lack of control is not acceptable and thus brings dog ownership and dogs in general into disrepute.

Having a friend with a HUsky cross it is more likely to sit on a chicken to keep it warm than kill it, so again its down to ownership and also temperament.

my springer would be a nightmare in direct contact with a chicken and I wouldnt trust him, however much I love him...I wouldnt put either my chucks or the dog through it. However he sits and watches the chucks and one even came up to the fence and sent him a flurry of boc boc boc and try it sonny and the dog moved away - but I woudnt trust him

However having had the opportunity to kill a squirrel during a visit to the local park and didnt I think he just enjoys chasing - but even that in the wrong situation would kill most animals from shock, so again best to keep it under control.

I do agree totally, and whilst over the 6 years since we first got a dog there have been a couple of misdemeanours the only things my dog has harmed beyond a fright are rats (6 dead - what a pity), and bluebottles - oh and one wasp......

(just incase my stories have produced visions of a dog running wild -this is very far from the truth)

[Eco-Chic]

Mine have killed a couple of squirrels in the woods and a couple of rats in my garden (pre-chooks rats). I would distract them from the squirrels if I could get them to listen, but I can't, and to be honest I'm not over bothered as long as it's a clean kill and small children don't see it and become upset.

We're over-run with squirrels (basically tree rats) in our parks, woods and cemeteries and they raid the small birds' nests and steal the eggs, kill the chicks and then we're only left with magpies, rooks and crows