Question Regarding Dog Attacks

[Kajirin]

Years ago when I was a young teen I used to love having guinea pigs as pets as I didn't have a dog back then. There was a wire haired fox terrier that was forever getting out and coming down to the house, I used to walk him back home all the time. One time the back gates were open the dog came in and killed the gin pigs [broke open the wire mesh on the cage and scared them to death, they didn't look munged on], the dog was just hanging around wagging his wik like he'd done good I was very sad, but didn't blame the dog...it was doing it's doggy terrier thing - just took him back home and told the owners what happened, didn't see the dog out ever again after that.

[Maddy]

I think the real grey area is dogs that chase/harm cats, I think a dog that chases a cat should be managed properly and be kept well away from them in the future, a dog that kills a cat (in public not the dogs yard) should have the same outcome as a dog that has killed another dog.

Surely keeping your cat contained within your own property would prevent this?

But there aren't any laws stating that cats HAVE to be contained to their own property... stupid, I know, but that's how it is.

Keeping your dog from exercising it's prey drive in a public place is probably the best bet - whether that be a muzzle or other device, so be it.

T.

Obviously. But accidents can and do happen.

Sure they do - but we can minimise their occurrences too. If your dog is likely to home in on a smaller animal as prey, then maybe a muzzle in public is a worthwile investment... and that way accidents are less likely to happen, yes?

T.

Again, obviously. But a muzzle only goes so far in stopping a dog from hurting another animal and if it fails to protect a roaming cat, the dog owner still ends up with their dog declared dangerous (that's the law here, anyway).

[Santo66]

Where does the line get drawn?

There is only ONE line IMHO and that's to know your dog's character and keep him/her out of trouble by taking proactive management with effective control and the appropriate training. Only the owner can shape the dogs destiny. One of my working dogs has massive animal aggression and will fight other dogs, cats, etc etc......he's a great dog otherwise, but that's his character fault I know that and he's 6 years old now and I have never let him hurt another animal. A lot of valuable training time has been put into this animal aggression which is a pointless trait and a nuisance behaviour but it can be controlled and to be honest, having a dog that it is potentially dangerous towards other animals like this bloke I am talking about, has made me a much more responsible owner, trainer and handler as a proactive management approach over time becomes second nature tending to handle my other two dogs who are not animal aggressive the same way.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Santo66

[hankdog]

I second the above post by Santo, I wish everyone had to look after an aggressive dog for a week so they could understand the potential for harm and how irresponsible owners impact people with difficult dogs. Contain and manage your dogs and cats I'd like their to be some wildlife left for my grandchildren.