Neighbour has dogs off lead

prettyrestless

Hi everyone, I could use a bit of advice please.

I live in an estate with approx. 80 houses. One man walks his two jack russells every day and when he is in the estate he doesn't have them on the lead. I should point out that I have never seen him out of the estate so I don't know if he uses leads at all but I presume he does as we live near busy main roads.

While walking back to his house, his two dogs will roam into people's driveways/gardens (there are no walls or gates so all fronts of houses are accessible) and will flush out any cats that are hiding under cars/in bushes etc and chase them. The dogs will not return to him when called and only come back when they have lost the cat.

I dread to think what they would do if they caught a cat. The dogs' owner doesn't seem to care where they roam and will only attempt to call them if they start running back the way they've come.

Should I ask him to restrain his dogs if he can't control them properly? (Will word it nicer than that)

easygoing1982

prettyrestless wrote: »

Should I ask him to restrain his dogs if he can't control them properly? (Will word it nicer than that)

Thats really up to yourself isnt it.You obviously want to but strangers on a chat forum cant decide for you.

What sort of manner has your neighbor got.Is he likely to become volatile.If so can you handle it.Is there likely to be a dispute from it.If so would this bother you?

Bigcheeze

prettyrestless wrote: »

I dread to think what they would do if they caught a cat.

Dog might come off worse.

But seriously if he is approachable, just ask in a friendly way that he keeps them on a lead around the estate.

As a regular beach user in Dublin I come across lots of dogs off the lead and in my experience Jack Russells are the worst. The bigger dogs are generally fine. I've had Jack Russells nip at my heels and one get aggressive towards my toddler. In both cases the owners did not react well to being told that their dog needed to be under control. Irish people tend not to deal well with conflict.

muddypaws

The law says that dogs have to be under effective control, not that they have to be on a lead. However, your neighbour's dogs don't seem to be under control, so he is breaking the law. Its really not fair if he allows them to chase cats, maybe ask some of your neighbours that own the cats if they have ever spoken to him about it.

Wesser

I think you making a big issue out of this and it doesn't need to be. Sure what harm are the dogs causing?

Don't worry about the cats when it comes to dog versus cat, the cat wil always always win.

intheclouds

Wesser wrote: »

Don't worry about the cats when it comes to dog versus cat, the cat wil always always win.

This isn't true at all. My neighbours cat was torn apart in her own front garden by two dogs being walked off leash by a different neighbour. The poor cat was 15 years old, it was a terrible way to die. The cat owner tried to beat the dogs off his cat and was bitten himself. The dog owner shrugged and claimed "sure it's normal for dogs to chase cats".

Cows Go µ

Wesser wrote: »

I think you making a big issue out of this and it doesn't need to be. Sure what harm are the dogs causing?

Don't worry about the cats when it comes to dog versus cat, the cat wil always always win.

Speaking as someone who owned a cat who got killed by a dog, this is not true. It depends on the cat and the dog involved.

vicwatson

Its just bad manners, and a bad dog owner, most arent like that. Have a friendly chat and explain your concerns.

Rubberchikken

i agree ^. it's very dependent on the cat. some will be well capable of defending i.e. running fast, themselves others just freeze.

you could mention it to him in a casual way that they might harm someones cat but i don't think a dog owner like that will really care.
responsible dog owners are aware of what their dog is up to and have them behave in a social way.

it's good of you, op, to be concerned.

Inbox

Your worried about cats op? Sure they are the biggest killers around.

Knine

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Dog might come off

2 Terriers could easily kill a cat. One of my own would if they got the chance.

One of my cats was killed this way. Horrible. Maybe the local cat owners that this affects could get together & have a word.

DBB

Inbox wrote: »

Your worried about cats op? Sure they are the biggest killers around.

Do NOT, just do NOT go down this road in this thread.

To all: due to the tendency for so many threads that even mention cats to go down this polarising "all cats are killers" route, causing inevitable strife, bans and thread closure, any further mention of cats killing things, or cats using gardens as toilets, or other old, old arguments, will result in the poster being banned from this forum.
Stay on topic please. The topic of this thread is categorically not related to cat behaviour.
Do not reply to this post on thread.
Thanks,
DBB

DBB

I think it's fair to say that many cats will deal with one dog. However, two or more dogs changes the odds dramatically. Most cats are in a lot of trouble if chased by two or more dogs, the danger is increased even further when the dogs have a high predatory drive.

Bigcheeze

Knine wrote: »

2 Terriers could easily kill a cat. One of my own would if they got the chance.

One of my cats was killed this way. Horrible. Maybe the local cat owners that this affects could get together & have a word.

I know. I said "might" and I think it was clear from my post that I was not serious.

prettyrestless

Thank you all for your posts.

I am a cat owner myself, hence my concern. I also saw the dogs chase my neighbour's six month old kitten one day and ran out in the rain in my pyjamas to check on her like a mad woman. The kitten escaped without harm thankfully.

The owner seems a little....odd. If you say hello to him he will ignore you. I'm not sure my concerns about his dogs would go down too well.

Kristopherus

prettyrestless wrote: »

Thank you all for your posts.

I am a cat owner myself, hence my concern. I also saw the dogs chase my neighbour's six month old kitten one day and ran out in the rain in my pyjamas to check on her like a mad woman. The kitten escaped without harm thankfully.

The owner seems a little....odd. If you say hello to him he will ignore you. I'm not sure my concerns about his dogs would go down too well.

If he's that kind of person, you should call the Dog Warden.

prettyrestless

Kristopherus wrote: »

If he's that kind of person, you should call the Dog Warden.

I thought that, but I'm worried that's a bit OTT?

intheclouds

prettyrestless wrote: »

I thought that, but I'm worried that's a bit OTT?

Why don't you just approach him and speak to him and if the response is negative or non existent then call then make a complaint to the dog warden.

boomerang

Wesser wrote: »

I think you making a big issue out of this and it doesn't need to be. Sure what harm are the dogs causing?

Don't worry about the cats when it comes to dog versus cat, the cat wil always always win.

Seriously not fun for the terrorised cat, who can be chased out onto the road infront of a car.

Dubl07

prettyrestless wrote: »

I thought that, but I'm worried that's a bit OTT?

If the dogs kill a cat, or spot a cat on the other side of the road and cause a car accident there'll be trouble. The dog warden is employed to enforce the regulations and it's not as if he/she will whip the dogs off your neighbour, at least not immediately. A stern talk from the warden as an authority figure might work. If not, there'll be a record in the system.

njs030

Dubl07 wrote: »

If the dogs kill a cat, or spot a cat on the other side of the road and cause a car accident there'll be trouble. The dog warden is employed to enforce the regulations and it's not as if he/she will whip the dogs off your neighbour, at least not immediately. A stern talk from the warden as an authority figure might work. If not, there'll be a record in the system.

This is a good idea. If he's a bit odd you might be better off not getting involved face to face. The dog warden will only have a chat with him to start with and will remind him of the laws.

ganmo

Wesser wrote: »

I think you making a big issue out of this and it doesn't need to be. Sure what harm are the dogs causing?

Don't worry about the cats when it comes to dog versus cat, the cat wil always always win.

Dogs 'enjoying' themselves can cause massive damage

Op sounds like you'd be better off talking to the dog warden

oppenheimer1

prettyrestless wrote: »

Hi everyone, I could use a bit of advice please.

I live in an estate with approx. 80 houses. One man walks his two jack russells every day and when he is in the estate he doesn't have them on the lead. I should point out that I have never seen him out of the estate so I don't know if he uses leads at all but I presume he does as we live near busy main roads.

While walking back to his house, his two dogs will roam into people's driveways/gardens (there are no walls or gates so all fronts of houses are accessible) and will flush out any cats that are hiding under cars/in bushes etc and chase them. The dogs will not return to him when called and only come back when they have lost the cat.

I dread to think what they would do if they caught a cat. The dogs' owner doesn't seem to care where they roam and will only attempt to call them if they start running back the way they've come.

Should I ask him to restrain his dogs if he can't control them properly? (Will word it nicer than that)

You don't say that they are chasing your cats or coming on to your property. If the dogs are not intruding onto your property or chasing your animals then it is none of your business.

So if cats are out in the garden, does that mean they are allowed to roam free through the estate?

Cherry Blossom

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

So if cats are out in the garden, does that mean they are allowed to roam free through the estate?

It couldn't have been made any clearer that this line of posting would not be tolerated in this thread. This is a highly inflammatory post and as such warrants a yellow card.

miss_shadow

I was going to start a thread on this as the other day I witnessed two bull terrier X hunting dogs rip apart and vandalise a car to try and get my cat. It was absolutely horrific and with a creche next door, it was actually one of the girls cars and she came out and nearly got attacked by one of the dogs.

They were at it for a full hour and a half . Luckily my cat got away but I feel it's within my interest to go about seeing who owns these dogs and possibly find the owner because god forbid if any children were near these invalid dogs they would have tried to do the same to a child as what they wanted to do to the cat.

People need to know that it's a serious issue . Go and watch a few videos on dogs and how brutal they can be when trained by morons that think it's OK to bite and chase whatever they feel.

And this stupid mentality of its only a cat is a disgrace. Just because you don't like cats it doesn't mean they deserve to killed by a dog. If your dog bites then keep it on a lead , pretty simple , they have a vast supply of leads these days no excuse.

tk123

miss_shadow wrote: »

I was going to start a thread on this as the other day I witnessed two bull terrier X hunting dogs rip apart and vandalise a car to try and get my cat. It was absolutely horrific and with a creche next door, it was actually one of the girls cars and she came out and nearly got attacked by one of the dogs.

They were at it for a full hour and a half . Luckily my cat got away but I feel it's within my interest to go about seeing who owns these dogs and possibly find the owner because god forbid if any children were near these invalid dogs they would have tried to do the same to a child as what they wanted to do to the cat.

People need to know that it's a serious issue . Go and watch a few videos on dogs and how brutal they can be when trained by morons that think it's OK to bite and chase whatever they feel.

And this stupid mentality of its only a cat is a disgrace. Just because you don't like cats it doesn't mean they deserve to killed by a dog. If your dog bites then keep it on a lead , pretty simple , they have a vast supply of leads these days no excuse.

?! So did you watch what was happening for an hour and half? Call the guards? Take any pics of the car? Did the dogs just leave when they were finished wrecking the car?

borderlinemeath

Replace "estate" with "road" and "cat" with "lamb" and not one poster would question what action to take. 2 JRTs would easily kill a cat and they're tenacious enough not to give up. If he didn't listen to the cat owners concerns I'd be ringing the warden assp.

miss_shadow

tk123 wrote: »

?! So did you watch what was happening for an hour and half? Call the guards? Take any pics of the car? Did the dogs just leave when they were finished wrecking the car?

Yep took a video while my neighbour called the guards. The guards wernt interested at all! I got the owner of the car from the creche to see what was happening too and she got into the car and turn on the engine to get the dogs away , <perma-banned> and out came the cat and thankfully he got away.

What would you have suggested I had done?

njs030

miss_shadow wrote: »

I was going to start a thread on this as the other day I witnessed two bull terrier X hunting dogs rip apart and vandalise a car to try and get my cat.

They were at it for a full hour and a half . Luckily my cat got away but I feel it's within my interest to go about seeing who owns these dogs and possibly find the owner because god forbid if any children were near these invalid dogs they would have tried to do the same to a child as what they wanted to do to the cat.

Are you for real??? Because a dog goes after a cat it automatically means they are going to attack a child?
The stupidity, ignorance and ridiculousness of such a comment beggars belief!!

miss_shadow wrote: »

<snip> and out came the cat and thankfully he got away

<snip> You are an absolute disgrace and I hope someone reports you to the ispca. Maybe keep your cat on your own grounds instead of following it into a creche car park and filming it!

That is animal abuse and I'm utterly disgusted by you.

Cherry Blossom

notjustsweet, Simply report the post and move on. As for the comment about keeping the cat on their own property, for the third time, this thread is not about cat behaviour or how people choose to keep their cats.

Now, as I don't particularly like carding and banning people I think it's time to close this thread.