[vexborg]

Today, while I was at work and my wife was in the garden with the 4 cats we had, one of them went on his usual walk-a-bout into an old unused scrapyard, while walking there he was cornered by 4 dogs, 3 of them lose running pitbulls!

Diego, as the cats name was, didn't stand a chance, he was grabbed and his neck snapped in an instant! My wife saw everything, but was unable to do anything... One of our neighbors managed to chase off teh dofgs, but by then it was tolate for poor Diego

This is the first pet I have ever lost, and he was so special, he always cuddled up to you, came when you called, and was acting more as an dog, than as a cat.

Our 3 other cats are sort of ok, they know what happened to Diego, and they miss him, they walk around in the house and call out for him, trying to find him. But he'll never be there anymore!

My wife and me are lost, we don't know what to do, we can only comfort each other.

Some might say "it's only a cat!", but we felt he was more than a cat, he was a part of the family, and we can ever replace him!

We can comfort us with the fact that he died instantly, doing what he loved, walking about and exploring.

Why can't people keep their bloody dogs under control!

We have reported everything to the police, they came by and took our statement, and we know who owns the dogs, and that person can expect a visit from the police with a court summons!
I know it won't bring back poor wee Diego, but at aleast we can prevent it from happeneing with other animals or even children!

We can think about him running in the garden at the end of rainbow bridge, chasing mice and playing with other cats.

We are suffering, this happened 2 weeks before his 3 years brithday.

So, dog people, please keep your dogs under control!

[BlueSky]

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Pitbulls should be banned. How many incidents like this is it going to take?

[davesimondotcom]

I'm sorry for you and your family (including Diego.)

My dog LOVES cats. She cuddles with them. But then, she lives with two.

[::maroma::]

That's terrible.

This is the main reason why my girlfriend won't let our cat wander around outside. Our city has pretty loose laws on keeping your dogs on leashes or tied up in your yard. So we have dogs roaming our neighborhood quite a bit. Most are harmless, but you never know.

I hope that the owners of those dogs gets whats coming to him/her. Some people just don't give a crap about others. Anyone who has any sort of compassion would have kept those dangerous animals (yes pitbulls are dangerous dogs) tied up or contained in a fenced in yard.

[IceEnclosure]

pitbulls I do not like.

[davesimondotcom]

I was attacked by a pittbull, myself, and I am still frightened of them. He was on a chain, but bit me on the nose and scared the hell out of me. Luckily only a couple stitches were necessary. I was 10.

Our cats are indoors cats due to the busy street behind our house. But they would love to go out mousing.

But remember, bad dogs come from bad owners. Don't blame an entire breed. It just as easily could have been poodles or Labradors. If an owner trains a dog to be aggressive, it will be.

[RAILhead]

Holy crap man, I'm SOOOO sorry. I pity the animal (or person) that kills my cat, because there will be hell to pay.

[ApplCmptrDood]

I agree with who said that pitbulls need to be banned. Even though the dog may be bred and never taught to be aggressive, there are those certain things that it inherits from it's ancestors, like it's unnatural ways of acting.

[Landos Mustache]

Horrible. Sue the owners for sure.

If I would have seen that with my own cats I would be traumatized for life.

[osiris]

What a terrible loss, I'm really sorry that happened.
Dogs with notorious lineages shouldn't be running around like that.

[davesimondotcom]

As a dog owner, it sickens me that they would have their dogs out running around. The worst my dog would do to someone is lick their face, but she is in our fenced yard, and when out and about, she's on a leash most of the time. The exception is when she's swimming at the nearby park/pond...

[Landos Mustache]

Can you imagine if these dogs went for a 3 year old kid?

[::maroma::]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

Can you imagine if these dogs went for a 3 year old kid?

Well if they authorities don't do something about those dogs, a 3 year old just might be next.

[tavilach]

If I were in your position, I'd want to kill the owner. I wouldn't, but I'd really, really want to. Our dog is really a part of our family, and we talk to her and about her every day, so I can imagine how you must feel about your cat. I'm so sorry .

[Todd Madson]

Sorry to hear of your loss. We keep our kitties inside just for these kinds of reasons.

We have a little joke with the calico that we keep her inside to keep her
safe from "the wulfen" and she gets very upset but we only allow her
outside if we're out there working on the garden and don't let her spend
a ton of time out there. Who knew how true this is?

The other cat is scared of his own shadow and would never think of ever
leaving the safe confines of his domicile.

Sorry to hear of your loss - I hope the law helps you dealing with this.
Untethered pitbulls exhibiting erratic behavior like that need to be dealt
with in a way that won't let it happen again.

[Millennium]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, vexborg. Losing an animal is a terrible thing, even for a natural death (as my previous dog's was). I can only imagine how much worse it must be to lose a pet violently.

The owner of these animals should face legal penalties, if not outright jail time, for breeding his dogs to be so vicious (or at least for not providing adequate warning and control measures). But no breed should ever be banned. There is no dangerous domestic dog who doesn't, one way or another, have a dangerous owner. The myth of "inherently dangerous breeds" has been used by irresponsible owners to absolve themselves of wrongdoing for far too long.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by ::maroma::

Well if they authorities don't do something about those dogs, a 3 year old just might be next.

Right, because animals that attack other animals (which even the nicest of dogs/cats will do) are automatically a danger to children.

Won't somebody please think of the children?

But definitely a terrible loss, vexborg. I do hope the owners are punished for not keeping their dogs where they should be.

[lpkmckenna]

Originally Posted by jokell82

Right, because animals that attack other animals (which even the nicest of dogs/cats will do) are automatically a danger to children.

Won't somebody please think of the children?

[Goldfinger]

I would kick to dog to ****ing death. Seriously.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by jokell82

Right, because animals that attack other animals (which even the nicest of dogs/cats will do) are automatically a danger to children.

Yep, especially pitbulls.

[vexborg]

Thanks for all your kind words.

But yes, I was ready to kill the owner and the dogs, but of course that wouldn't help a bit! It would only bring more grief!

We are both very upset, but in strange way, we know he is in a happy place - we took him to the vet, said our final goodbyes to him (the hardest thing I ever had to do).
I'll never forget how he looked, in his eyes only the black was showing, the tounge was out, claws out - he was surprised, went into fight mode, but his neck was snapped before he could anything! The dogs chewed on him afterwards, his belly was so bloody!

We have handed him over to the vet and he'll get cremated. Never going to bury him, but have him close to us when we'll eventually move away.

[Stradlater]

Originally Posted by ApplCmptrDood

I agree with who said that pitbulls need to be banned. Even though the dog may be bred and never taught to be aggressive, there are those certain things that it inherits from it's ancestors, like it's unnatural ways of acting.

Its.

And Ontario's already done this. Here's a good article on why that was a dumb law to have passed:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/conten.../060206fa_fact

Snip:

A Georgia-based group called the American Temperament Test Society has put twenty-five thousand dogs through a ten-part standardized drill designed to assess a dog’s stability, shyness, aggressiveness, and friendliness in the company of people. A handler takes a dog on a six-foot lead and judges its reaction to stimuli such as gunshots, an umbrella opening, and a weirdly dressed stranger approaching in a threatening way. Eighty-four per cent of the pit bulls that have been given the test have passed, which ranks pit bulls ahead of beagles, Airedales, bearded collies, and all but one variety of dachshund. “We have tested somewhere around a thousand pit-bull-type dogs,” Carl Herkstroeter, the president of the A.T.T.S., says. “I’ve tested half of them. And of the number I’ve tested I have disqualified one pit bull because of aggressive tendencies. They have done extremely well. They have a good temperament. They are very good with children.”

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Stradlater

Its.

And Ontario's already done this. Here's a good article on why that was a dumb law to be passed:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/conten.../060206fa_fact

Snip:

"Jayden was stragglin behind, and, as his father’s back was turned, pit bull jumped over a back-yard fence an lunged at Jayden. “The dog had his head in it mouth and started to do this shake,” Clairoux’ wife, JoAnn Hartley, said later. As she watche in horror, two more pit bulls jumped over th fence, joining in the assault. She and Clairou came running, and he punched the first of th dogs in the head, until it dropped Jayden, an then he threw the boy toward his mother Hartley fell on her son, protecting him with he body. “JoAnn!” Clairoux cried out, as all thre dogs descended on his wife. “Cover your neck cover your neck.” A neighbor, sitting by he window, screamed for help. Her partner and friend, Mario Gauthier, ran outside. neighborhood boy grabbed his hockey stic and threw it to Gauthier. He began hitting on of the dogs over the head, until the stick broke. “They wouldn’t stop,” Gauthier said. “As soo as you’d stop, they’d attack again. I’ve neve seen a dog go so crazy. They were lik Tasmanian devils."

I think it had to be done. I live in Ontario and I LOVE animals and dogs but every single attack that has taken place here has been by pitbulls.

[Stradlater]

SWG, read the whole article.

Blame the owner, not the breed.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Stradlater

SWG, read the whole article.

Blame the owner, not the breed.

Of course, but pit bulls are inherently worse. LARGE assed mouths that can lock.

[brapper]

I'm soooo sooo sorry to hear that.

Heart-breaking.

[Landos Mustache]

I know, i had to call my cats to talk to them on the phone after I read that

[Tomchu]

I'm sure some of you have seen King Kong. If so, you'll remember the awesome "T-Rex move" that Kong performed a few times in that movie -- namely, grabbing the T-Rex by the jaw and tearing it open.

If I had a kid, or even a cat, and I saw a pit bill attacking it, I'd try my hardest to kill the nasty son of a bitch with exactly that same move. I really, really hate aggressive dogs.

[Shaddim]

I feel your pain. I had to shoot a neighbor's German Shepherd for chasing my cats and trying to kill them (I'd talked to the guy several times and had even shot the dog with a BB gun). Some people just won't keep their animals in check and let them wander, in some places there's very little you can do about it.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Tomchu

I'm sure some of you have seen King Kong. If so, you'll remember the awesome "T-Rex move" that Kong performed a few times in that movie -- namely, grabbing the T-Rex by the jaw and tearing it open.

If I had a kid, or even a cat, and I saw a pit bill attacking it, I'd try my hardest to kill the nasty son of a bitch with exactly that same move. I really, really hate aggressive dogs.

Ya same here. If person or animal ever harmed my cats I would turn into the hulk in about 1 second flat and rip them into little pieces. Heck I would probably end up in jail.

[::maroma::]

Originally Posted by jokell82

Right, because animals that attack other animals (which even the nicest of dogs/cats will do) are automatically a danger to children.

Won't somebody please think of the children?

Yeah, and pets who have good owners sometimes attack and kill other animals and, get this, even children and adults. I'm sorry, these are not wild animals. These are domesticated pets. When a domesticated pet gets so aggressive that it must attack and kill something else, then it is automatically a danger to those around it. Period.

So, do something about those dogs. Either put them in a cage (ie - do NOT let them roam free) or get rid of them. Because next time it might not be "just a cat" that gets killed. It could be a child.

Won't somebody please think of the dogs?

[Ratm]

Originally Posted by BlueSky

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Pitbulls should be banned. How many incidents like this is it going to take?

My god, I can't stand comments like yours. Dogs of all breeds do the same thing everyday, yet you don't hear a peep. If you knew the breed then you'd know that they are not what people make them out to be. New York experienced a very similar panic a couple of years ago and it was proven to be nothing but hype by the media and people with nothing better to do.... so in other words STFU!

[Cody Dawg]

Why can't people keep their bloody dogs under control!

I'm sorry for your loss.

However, I was bitten by a sick cat that was wandering loose around outside (it bit me in my own yard) and had to get rabies shots as a result...why can't people keep their cats under control?

Cats shouldn't be wandering around loose anymore than dogs should be and blaming pitbulls isn't the answer either. It's the owner's/owners' faults for letting any animal wander around outside it's own yard and/or house unless under the control and supervision of its owner...such as with a leash.

[Stradlater]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I'm sorry for your loss.

However, I was bitten by a sick cat that was wandering loose around outside and had to get rabies shots as a result...why can't people keep their cats under control?

Cats shouldn't be wandering around loose anymore than dogs should be and blaming pitbulls isn't the answer either. It's the owner's/owners' faults.

[Cody Dawg]

I'm sure I'll be attacked for saying that but it's the truth.

I got sick from those rabies shots, also.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I'm sorry for your loss.

However, I was bitten by a sick cat that was wandering loose around outside (it bit me in my own yard) and had to get rabies shots as a result...why can't people keep their cats under control?

Cats shouldn't be wandering around loose anymore than dogs should be and blaming pitbulls isn't the answer either. It's the owner's/owners' faults for letting any animal wander around outside it's own yard and/or house unless under the control and supervision of its owner...such as with a leash.

I agree. I only let my cats outside under strong supervision. If I lived out in the country I would let it out more on its own though. I would never let an aggressive cat outside though.

Thing with cats though is they aren't like big dogs that can kill children and adults.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by ::maroma::

Yeah, and pets who have good owners sometimes attack and kill other animals and, get this, even children and adults. I'm sorry, these are not wild animals. These are domesticated pets. When a domesticated pet gets so aggressive that it must attack and kill something else, then it is automatically a danger to those around it. Period.

So, do something about those dogs. Either put them in a cage (ie - do NOT let them roam free) or get rid of them. Because next time it might not be "just a cat" that gets killed. It could be a child.

Won't somebody please think of the dogs?

I have a dog that will often kill squirrels in our back yard. Is she a danger to children as well?

[Stradlater]

Emotional incidents can provoke a wide sweep of desired retribution by some. Yes, the incidents are sad, but there's no need to condemn an entire race for the acts of a few.

I grew up around dogs (small to medium ones, actually; no particular personal inclination to defend pitbulls here), so I know how much you can fall in love with a pet. I'm very sorry for the loss of the initial poster.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by jokell82

I have a dog that will often kill squirrels in our back yard. Is she a danger to children as well?

Possibly.

[Stradlater]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

Thing with cats though is they aren't like big dogs that can kill children and adults.

Not all at once, not likely, no. But rabies is pretty bad.

[Cody Dawg]

It depends.

Dogs are prey animals to a certain extent. It's in their genes just as it with cats.

Someone can point out that a dog will kill a smaller animal such as a squirrel or a cat...and someone else will point out that a cat will kill birds and sometimes small rabbits...and some of those birds and rabbits might be someone else's pet(s). I used to put my parrot on a stand in the back yard to enjoy the sunlight (her wings are clipped so she doesn't fly) until I discovered that my neighbor routinely lets her cats wander around the neighborhood. I caught her cat sitting on my fence one day, just sitting and twitching his tail in a crouch, stalking my bird. Now I can't let my bird sit outside in my own yard.

People just need to control their animals. I would never let my small children walk around the neighborhood unsupervised...I love them too much. That's the same reason why people should always be watchful over ANY pet that they have.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Stradlater

Not all at once, not likely, no. But rabies is pretty bad.

ya well so is letting a human nutcase out on the streets if they have aids and a needle.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

Possibly.

It's not even the least bit possible. My dog is by far the sweetest dog in the world. When she's out running she doesn't even look at other dogs, or even cats for that matter. If a burglar were to break in she'd probably lick him to death.

But I guess since she's killed 3 squirrels we need to put her down. Sucks for us.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Ratm

My god, I can't stand comments like yours. Dogs of all breeds do the same thing everyday, yet you don't hear a peep. If you knew the breed then you'd know that they are not what people make them out to be. New York experienced a very similar panic a couple of years ago and it was proven to be nothing but hype by the media and people with nothing better to do.... so in other words STFU!

Your powers of persuasion, rational logic and force of personality leave me bloated with a profound appreciation for your pointed head. Get a grip, skippy.

[Cody Dawg]

Here you go:

While national statistics show at least 30 breeds have attacked humans, 10 dog breeds are on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's most dangerous list, meaning they tend to bite the most frequently. They are:

Pit bulls
Rottweilers
German Shepherds
Huskies
Alaskan Malamutes
Doberman Pinschers
Chow Chows
Great Danes
St. Bernards
Akitas

The breeds considered most likely to kill are pit bulls and rottweilers, and the CDC says that a chained dog is more likely to bite than an unchained dog.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by davesimondotcom

I was attacked by a pittbull, myself, and I am still frightened of them. He was on a chain, but bit me on the nose and scared the hell out of me. Luckily only a couple stitches were necessary. I was 10.

I was a little older, 14 or 15 by then. It's the only dog I've ever had to injure to keep it from hurting me.

[tooki]

Originally Posted by Millennium

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, vexborg. Losing an animal is a terrible thing, even for a natural death (as my previous dog's was). I can only imagine how much worse it must be to lose a pet violently.

The owner of these animals should face legal penalties, if not outright jail time, for breeding his dogs to be so vicious (or at least for not providing adequate warning and control measures). But no breed should ever be banned. There is no dangerous domestic dog who doesn't, one way or another, have a dangerous owner. The myth of "inherently dangerous breeds" has been used by irresponsible owners to absolve themselves of wrongdoing for far too long.

Well said. In fact, pretty much every case of human attacks by alleged pit bulls (there's no legal requirement to accurately identify the breed of the dog involved, so many big-jawed dogs are mistakenly recorded as being pit bulls), there's a long history of aggression that would have led any sane person to get rid of the animal. Things like a history of biting (often including biting the owner!!!), or in some cases, even already having been ordered by the court to keep the dog muzzled at all times when outdoors. There are plenty of warning signs of an animal that is dangerous. It's when those signs are ignored that tragedies happen.

Note also that we go through "phases" of considering different dogs dangerous. Right now, it's pit bulls (which 50 years ago were referred to as "nanny dogs" for their good attitude with children). But in recent decades, rottweilers and doberman pinschers were the targets of misguided laws and media attention.

In fact, what needs to be addressed is not the allegedly aggressive breeds*, but rather the real cause, which is irresponsible owners.

tooki

*Here in MD, most dog bites are caused by... you guessed it, cocker spaniels! And they're face biters!

[vinster]

To vexborg: Sorry to hear about the untimely death of your beloved pet. I think you've done all the right things, though. It's good to hear that the Police have a case to prosecute which means another pit bull attack will go on record. We banned them in our city last year, which I support, but still have reports of attacks from the suburbs.

As tooki says, there are many dog breeds that are capable of and do inflict heavy damage on people and other animals, but the media has a greater interest in the pit bulls. Unfortunately, I think this bad publicity actually makes the breed more attractive to owners wanting a 'tough' dog -- just the type of people you don't want owning one. It's the owners fault this happened and hopefully justice will hold them accountable.

[DeathToWindows]

I'm a cat person.

Do you mind if I take a pneumatic ram and shove the pit bulls responsible up the owner's arse? Ach, failing that - just shoot the damn animals (the dogs).

[amacgenius-30]

Originally Posted by BlueSky

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Pitbulls should be banned. How many incidents like this is it going to take?

Pitbulls have been banned in Ontario. I think that pitbulls have a 'ed up mind.