My doggie was part of a gang related killing this morning. Geeeeee, that sounds awful. But, it's true.
Working on my computer, I hear a lot of dog barking, yelping and commotion and run out and realized there is a fight going on in the corner of my yard which I cannot see, for it is a wildlife area (means I do not cut anything down, it is thickly wooded). Kristopher's and Amy's dogs are there as well and I thought it was a dog fight, only to realize there was a cat involved.
I scream at Shiloh to come and she came rather quickly, put her in the house and went back out, but the other 2 dogs are still at it. I can hear the poor cat moaning. Amy yelled at them to come and wouldn't so she got the hose and squirted them. Wink came and I put her in the house. Then she picked up Muka and carried him inside. She was brave enough to deal with the cat, which is so hurt it strikes out at her. She cannot pick it up but talks to it and realizes it cannot move, the eyes are rolling back but it still hisses at her. We cannot do anything for it at this point and chat about whose cat this may be. She called K and he called me and is pretty sure the cat belongs to the next door neighbors... the same neighbors whose other cat was killed by our dogs a couple of months ago. Oh boy.
That time it was in their yard. They let their cats loose and dogs, because they are dogs, want to chase them. It is so tempting to see prey several feet away. They hopped over the fence and killed it. We felt awful about it. I had already made plans to build a wooden fence and shortly thereafter it was built; now the dogs are not tempted to jump due to a cat sighting.
But this time the cat was in our yard. Different story. Has to do with territory. Has to do with pack mentality. Has to do with dogs not had their hunting instinct bred out. It is still there so I cannot find fault for what they are doing. It is normal. We don't like it, but it is normal.
Amy and Kristopher have 2 cats. Their dogs live with them and know they are part of the family. So it is not like they are cat killers. They are hunters. So are cats.
Our neighbors had (had)4 cats... all outside cats. Now there is an issue with that as well. They are out hunting, killing squirrels and birds. Even the birds that come to my feeders. I had to change location of the feeders so the cats could not see when they are being visited by hungry birds. I no longer get possums, raccoons and armadillos like I once did. The animals keep them away.
Cats cannot be contained by fences like our dogs can. They are free to roam and do their own killings. I feel they are fair game when they jump into our yard. As much as I hate that people's pets are being hurt, damaged or killed, I feel that if they are allowed to roam they are targets for animals whose instincts are to protect, hunt and kill if necessary.
We wonder whose cat this is. It does not belong to our neighbor.... I found out a few minutes ago when I was "breaking the news" to her. Sigh of relief that it was not hers, but I know someone is missing their beautiful huge cat. In the meantime he is in a box until burial time.
As far as these dogs are concerned, it's business as usual. Please keep your cats inside.
