Bailey just killed a cat =(

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#1
...I can't even look at him. I keep trying to tell myself that to him it's the same as any wild animal...that he doesn't know that this was someone's beloved pet....

The cat has been in our (fenced) yard several times over the last few weeks and I alerted the owners, but they were unwilling/unable to keep him inside. He is quite old and must have gotten cornered...I opened the door to let the dogs out and B was down the steps before I could get to him. I heard the cat screaming but they were running and I couldn't catch him once he had it in his mouth. Oh my God it was the most awful sound I've ever heard I feel so terrible.

If I had just yelled at Bailey to come or to leave it be he might have been okay but I was hysterical and screaming and I wasn't thinking. It happened so fast and I was just praying it wasn't a cat even though I knew it was.

The owners aren't even mad..."he was old"...which means B won't be PTS but I feel like someone should be mad on behalf of this poor kitty. I am so absolutely heartbroken and sick. I should have paid better attention. He's killed feral cats but that's why I keep him in the yard now =(

R.I.P. little orange dude =(
 

Xandra

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#2
Oh I'm sorry, how terrible. It wasn't your fault at all :( You can't be expected to have constant vigilance in your own yard. Very sad, I hope it never happens again, but please don't beat yourself up.
 

TahlzK

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#3
I'm so sorry :( I do hope you don't stay annoyed with Bailey. Bailey was just doing what was natural to him, he didn't know any better. It would be unfair to stay angry at him.
 

thehoundgirl

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#4
:( Poor kitty. I wouldn't stay mad at Bailey.. he is a dog and some dogs just can't be around cats.
 

Taqroy

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#7
(((hugs))) I am so sorry. The best thing you can do is give it time. My sister's dog killed my cat in college. I was mad but not mad at her exactly - mad at me, mad at the circumstances, mad at animals in general. I eventually got over being mad and went to sad. Animals do animal things and sometimes it really sucks for us humans. (((((morehugs))))))
 
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#8
I'm so so sorry!

The irresponsible party here are the owners - they knew their cat was getting into someone's yard with dogs and they failed to keep him properly enclosed safely.

Bailey is a hunting dog - strong prey drive is part of his genetic package; it was prey - he went for it. You can't blame him for doing what was something so instinctual. Your dog is wonderfully trained but it is up to other people to keep their cats/pets/animals OUT of others yards. I'm even iffy with Katalin around smaller animals/birds - She's met cats only twice but I wouldn't trust her around them at this point...
 

CharlieDog

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#9
I'm sorry. :( I know it sucks. Knox got my mothers cat once, luckily he was okay. He just held him down/muzzle punched him and screamed, but he got a feral cat on our property recently, and it was just a baby. It's hard not to be mad, I know, because I was furious, but he doesn't know any better. Dogs don't have morals, they don't understand it was someone's pet, and frankly, they probably don't care :/

You're sad for the cat, but it will get better. RIP little kitty.
 

ihartgonzo

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#10
NO ONE should be mad at Bailey... they allowed their cat to roam, you warned them, they didn't care enough about their cat to keep him inside and the cat wasn't smart enough to steer clear of dogs. Bailey acted on instinct - attacking a prey animal that was not only dumb enough to hang out in a yard that is frequented by dogs, but was intruding in his home. Honestly, I see it as natural selection.

The cat could've been hit by a car and suffered excruciating pain before dying. He could've been killed by a number of wild animals. He could have been tortured and killed by sick people. I feel that being quickly and efficiently killed by a dog is one of the most merciful ways a roaming cat can meet his end, especially at an old age, which outdoor cats rarely reach.

My neighbors had many cats who were constantly breeding that were outside 24/7. I saw them huddled on the porch in the rain, looking around for food, fighting with other cats, running into my garage and sleeping there!!!, all the time. I nearly hit all of them with my car in the dark several times... and I was going 20 mph. A lot of cars around here go 60. Dozens of their cats were hit by cars and killed by coyotes, and they continued to leave their cats outside. There was always one or two in my yard it seemed when I let my dogs out. Luckily for them, both of my dogs have herding drive but do not grip or kill. My dogs easily could have killed them if they wanted to, and I would never blame my dogs or feel guilty. It is ALL the cat owners fault, and honestly, what a sad and pointless life for a cat to live... just wandering around outside with no human contact. Why even have a cat?
 

yoko

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#11
Don't be mad with him :(

If anyone's fault it is the neighbors and in a split second like that you did what you could.
 
K

Kaydee

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#12
I'm so sorry, sigh...I know just how you feel, right down to that humming unearthly yowl...that will stay with you for a long time. You're fortunate your neighbors were understanding. Unthinkable what could've happened if they called the police.

With the second cat Sophie caught I was in shadow but people across the street saw her. Nobody said anything but I later heard people talking about how that cat was mauled by a dog<shiver>...and the scene of the crime...I wasn't comfortable walking down that street even alone for a year after.

I was just so appalled with Sophie. But even as I was cleaning the blood off her mouth and whiskers and tending to the scratches on her face...just have to sadly be realistic...a dog is a dog is a domesticated animal, besides I don't freak when our cats kill something really unless they drop the remains in the house. gotta give Sophie the same leeway sometimes.

But no it is a horrible, hideous thing to witness, a cat is far different than say a mole...at least to us humans. Forgive the dog...forgive yourself, pray no more cats wander in.
 

AgilityPup

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#13
I can understand your anger. Our dogs have gotten cats before, and we've had to make changes in our lives to prevent it from happening, but even with a fence, we still end up with dogs in our fence. Dogs are animals, and animals are predictably UNPREDICTABLE. Especially when you have more than one or two outside and they get after something.
 
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#14
Thanks, everybody. I just finished burying him and I hope I did him justice. He was a nice enough little cat.

As for Bailey, I'm not mad mad...it's just hard not to anthropomorphize an animal that some stupid part of you feels should KNOW better. He knows when I need him, and he practically reads my mind when we are trailing together. It just hits me in the gut to be reminded that he doesn't "know." To him, that cat was no different than the coons or possums we spotlight in the woods or the rabbits he runs down in the yard (though I have no stomach for that either).

The neighbors did make a snide comment about us keeping a hunting dog on the property. Their kids were fence-jumpers, and I even came home one evening after work to find the (adult! well-educated!) husband IN MY DOG RUN retrieving a lost Frisbee. So on the one hand I'm rolling my eyes and blaming them up and down for not listening when I told them their cat needed to be kept out of my yard, but on the other hand I am sick to think of what happened. The cat didn't do anything wrong. He doesn't know better. He's old and hungry and can't climb back up the fence quick enough to get away =(

But I am grateful that they aren't angry: we have had incidents with Bailey in the past (not aggression or anything, but people think he's a pig dog which is controversial and incidentally not the case) and our other neighbor put rat poison in his run. So of course as the word spreads we will be keeping an eye out.

I'm sorry for all of you that have had similar experiences. I just can't get it out of my head. Poor little dude =(
 

Teal

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#15
Unthinkable what could've happened if they called the police.


The dog was in his own fenced yard... What could the police have POSSIBLY done?

I do feel sorry for the cat.. but like someone else said, a quick and efficient death by a dog in a yard is a lot more humane than most cats who are outdoors get :(
 

Doberluv

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#16
I'm sorry you had to go through this. Yeah...it's totally not your fault or your dog's. Those owners of the cat are irresponsible to say the least. It's their fault. People like that shouldn't have animals! I'm really sorry...very sad.:(
 

Grab

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#17
How very sad. Sad for you and sad for the cat..who not only had owners unconcerned about his welfare, but who met an early demise because of their irresponsible behavior.

Certainly not your fault, but that doesn't lessen the sadness of having to deal with such an issue. My dogs have thus far only been lethal to birds, which is sad enough. (although the birds build their nests in a Joshua tree. Every. Year. You'd think they'd learn that many times their nests fall out and try somewhere else....but no....)
 

RD

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#18
I feel so sad for the old kitty, that his people didn't care enough about him to keep him from entering your yard. Orange kitties are the best, too. RIP little dude.

Don't be angry at your dog. He's just doing what his dog brain tells him to, just like the cat was doing what his cat brain told him to when he was roaming into your yard. It was nobody's fault but the cat's owners.
 

Dekka

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#19
I know exactly how you feel. I have had some cat killers. And I agree with other posters.. the police wouldn't have done a thing because the OP did nothing wrong. Now if they wanted to give a talking to, to the people who owned the cat.. that would be good.

If my pet rat strayed into someone's yard and their cat got it.. same deal.
 

MafiaPrincess

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#20
You're fortunate your neighbors were understanding. Unthinkable what could've happened if they called the police.
There should be no recourse period. Your yard, their roaming animal. Even if they called the cops, nothing should happen.

We've had near misses with squirrels, asshat people's cats. On Dekka's farm people keep dropping cats. I certainly don't scope out the property before I let the pack out the door. It sucks if other people's animals die, as I don't want that to happen to anyone, but if it's on your property.. the recourse should be nil.
 

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