Oh God no...

I am in shock. I'm having trouble typing.

The boys got out of the yard again....Voodoo busted through the trellis that my husband had just finished fixing and reinforcing yesterday. My husband and I went searching everywhere for them.

My husband found them two blocks down, with a hysterical elderly woman. She was holding an old cat in her arms, and the boys were bouncing around her. He called the boys to him, and they both came right away.

The lady said Voodoo had attacked her cat. :yikes:

Voodoo had the cat by the neck when the lady saw him. She told him to stop it, and Voodoo did. But the cat is quite old, and hubby said it didn't look good. He said the cat was limp in the lady's arms, and its tongue was hanging out. The lady said that Voodoo is vicious. She wants us to pay the vet bills and she never wants to see either of our dogs ever again.

I don't know what to do. Hubby thinks the cat won't survive. Voodoo lives with two cats and has never been aggressive before---we didn't see this coming. Hubby thinks that Voodoo was just trying to play with the cat; he said Voodoo was acting playful when he pulled up.

We can't afford these vet bills. I don't know what will happen to Voodoo if the cat dies.

Ohh no. I hope everything turns out okay......

Did the lady take the cat to the vet?

Oh Gempress I'm sorry! I hope the cat is ok. I'm sure Voodoo was only playing with it. (((((((((HUGS))))))).

She took it to the vet. Hubby gave her our phone number, and we will be footing the vet bill. I don't know how we're going to pay for it, though.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear this. Let's just hope that the cat only used 1 of its 9 lives...

((((((hugs)))))))))) Sending good thoughts &/ vibes your way...
Voodoo! Stay in the yard, boy!

I wish you the best. Sometimes things happen that we just don't expect.
I don't really believe you can be held liable for anymore than the vet bill though. I hope it is not too much.
I would do the same thing by paying the vet bill. But keep in the back of your mind.......the cat was out too.

I dont think you are 100% liable.

Yes, your dog got out, but her cat was out as well.

Plus, your dog was accidently out, she probably ALLOWS her cats out.


I am soo sorry this happened.... I hope everything goes ok... keep use updated.

Elissa

So sorry this happened do you have something you can auction on ebay to raise funds.... Also you can add electrical to the bottom and top of the trellis and that should stop them as long as it is on.

But i must prepare you for the worse. If the cat dies she may ask the dogs be labeled as dangerous and she may not name the one dog she may name both.
Is their any where they can go for a week or so?
Im sorry but u need to prepare for the worse case.

If this happened to a buyer of mine I would board the dogs until things settle down.

Now that they have gotten out if it happens again the liability doubles.
So if you have to walk them on leash until fencing is secured.

Also if you see other dogs running loose take a pic or better yet video of the.
Because now your dog can get blamed for any cat killings not witnessed by the owners.

Ouch! That's really sad news....I hope it all works out.
We have a few neighborhood cats that like to roam our backyard....I've often asked myself what will happen if Abby ever catches one of them.
Hang in there Voodoo....

What an unfortunate situation to be in. I would be extremely cooperative in this situation. I would pay the vet bills and be very apologetic... even though it's not 100% your fault. I hope the cat makes it... and I wish you the best. Keep us updated!

please PLEASE for the love of everything stop leaving your dogs outside unsupervised.

laws vary place to place- some places will declare a dog vicious for killing another domesticated animal, some places not. i'd check into the laws asap and know what's what.

prey drive outside is different than living with cats. voodoo is a dog bred to hunt, after all.

i hope the kitty makes it. best of luck to all of you.

Doesn't sound good for the cat by your description, but cats can bounce back. The cat might be more in shock than hurt, so hang in there. Was this on the woman's property or just out on the street?

Just one more excellent argument for indoor cats as well.

I very strongly agree with Melissa, there is nothing gained by pointing to the woman's cat at this point, particularly if the cat was on its own property. I think that would be a huge mistake particularly in view of leash laws for dogs but not cats. Just my two cents. The woman's pet was injured and it's really best to do well by her, which you are doing. Put yourself in her place for a minute and understand that she is upset over her pet, but that doesn't mean she is going to sue you or even imagine that your dogs should be taken from you. I don't even see that as a possibility. It's not like you deliberately loosed your dogs.

I think you are doing the right thing handling it the way you are. It was an accident that your dogs got loose and I'm sure she knows that. It's just that right now she is worried about her cat whom she loves. So she's probably very upset. And so are you.

Hopefully the cat will be ok. That and you paying for the bill will probably calm the woman down with nothing more heard. However, if the cat dies, there really is no legal recourse for her in most states except that it will hurt her heart. The value of dogs and cats is generally placed at the amount paid for them, like property.

I am sorry this happened, but I do not think you need to worry about the future of the dogs as the incident did not involve a human. Please take a deep breath, stuff happens. Pay the bills in any way you can and hopefully all will turn out ok in the end for both you, your dogs, the woman and the cat.

Hopefully, Fluffy will see more good days, as an indoor cat.

OMG..that's awful. I hope that poor kitty will be alright. I must say that I doubt that Voodoo was trying to play with the cat though.
Your own cats are completely different to Voodoo. The fact that he attacked the old lady's cat doesn't translate into aggression towards your cats.

You may need to have the boys teathered outside from now on or at least find a fool proof way of keeping them in. Now that this has happened once, prey drive can be in "over drive" because the experience was rewarding. His desire to get out will most likely be heightened.

Sorry that this happened....you must be a wreck..

My breed has defense drive and they are very like My Cat - My Couch My car - my sheep etc but they would kill a Cat that was not in the pack.

Its natural dont make him a bad dog they dont make movies of cat vs dog for nothing.

Get a copy of your towns rules and research be informed before anything else happens..

Wow I didn't know that. This doggie novice is really glad she has a Collie. The worst she's done so far is heard a half dozen kids at a BBQ. I think if I had chosen a dog that requires this kind of knowledge I would have been in trouble by now. I can't even begin to tell you how much I have learned on this board.

I will say this, it is too bad that the dogs got out of your yard! I know that here in Canada the laws are very stiff;

The big major one $5000.00 fine. Dogs labled as vicious. and then the law suit well I hope everything works well for you. I would get one big strong kennel for them.

The heightened prey drive could just as easily have happened with my goofy Labradoodle given the same scenario.

Even a sweet little Collie can experience a punch of prey drive.

Your dog is adorable by the way!!

I'm so sorry this is happening to you.

Sasha lives in our home with seven cats now and has, at times lived with over 10 -- took her to a friend's one day and was leaning against my truck with my back turned to Sasha who was on a leash, didn't think anything of it and before I knew it, she saw a cat scampering across the yard, pulled the leash right out of my hands and near chased the thing up a tree. I am 100% sure she would have laid her mouth on it if she had been able to catch it before it treed itself. Because she's a bad catkiller? No, because it's all about prey drive.

I think you're doing the right thing in what you can do as far as paying the bills, etc. I imagine the odds are that this woman hasn't even considered the remote possibility of legal action. I know I certainly wouldn't if I were in her situation.

Their is a term for dogs not classified as herding dogs thus prey drive is more in them. It is called finishing prey drive and I dont think the above situation applies but even livestock dogs can exhibit this in a HUNTING type of situation. They are then labeled "finishers".

Thanks DR2little! I adore her and she's working out so well! She ate my sandwich this afternoon while I was on the phone though. She sure does have a prey drive for food that isn't hers.

She does nip at my cats when she gets excited, like she does with me sometimes, when she tries to herd me where she wants me. She tries to herd them and wants to play, but they seem to be getting the best of her most days. She seems to have a healthy respect for the Five Razors, but overall I think she likes them. But she is so big and still a puppy, I could see where she could injur one of them during an exuberant moment, particularly my Roni whom I took in declawed. So I stay watchful, if only because of her size in comparison. Mostly she wants them to play with her and her toys but she never jumps on them, thank God. Mostly, she tries to shove a toy at one of them as a kind of offering, which of course they ignore. I also have two elderly cats whom she doesn't bother, but she is active with the two younger ones. She seems to know the difference.

But I could see how what happened with Gem's dog could happen anywhere.