Cat killed by neighbors dogs - your course of action?
- Thread starter Dedalus
- Start date
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Thanks again everybody - I have 'liked' posts because I am thankful for the support and empathy of the members here on VV. Not because I'm glad you're crying...
I've avoided this thread for obvious reasons - but for the record I should provide an update.
Since the incident - and subsequent meeting with the neighbor who owns the dogs - after what was a very hopeful and positive meeting in which he completely took full responsibility and swore up and down that his dogs would never - (his emphasis) never enter our property again (see prior post if you want all the details) -I am sorry to report that the trail cam has caught the dogs on our porch a few nights in late September (literally a few weeks after Mim was killed) and again for two consecutive nights in October. On both of these occasions I spoke with the neighbor to inform him that whatver he had done or was doing to secure the dogs, it was not working.
On the first occasion his excuse was that he was keeping his dogs in the garage. (Don't ask me why this was a supposed solution, I have no clue - maybe he only kept them in there at night.) Well one evening his wife didn't wait for the garage door to shut completely and thus they got out. He promised that it would not happen again and asked that I 'give him a pass' this one time. He said he was trying to work out a more appropriate solution - and if it didn't work then he was going to put the dogs down. In his words "A $50 shot is a lot better than a 10k fence."
On the next occasion the roles had reversed and he felt as though he was the victim of my harrassment for calling him repeatedly to give him a 'report' on his dogs activity. My how things change when people give you their word and their word is not worth ****. I explained that calling him wouldn't be necessary if he simply kept his goddamn animals confined. He then stated that he has seen our cats on his own trail cam and that they had been in his orchard (he owns an apple orchard) plenty of times. His excuse was now not that his dogs were loose, but that our cats were 'pulling' his dogs into my yard.
Pathetic ****.
I was too livid to state the obvious - which was that our cats have been in yards all over the neighborhood - there are dogs all around us - everyone has dogs and NONE OF THEM are being 'pulled' into our ******* yard. I informed him that pulling them over wasn't necessary - they had already killed a cat and they were clearly hunting for another one in the same place. If those dogs get out - there is not a question about where they are going. They are going straight to my back porch where they killed Mim.
The neighbor then indicated that he had just put into place a solution that he believed would work. He had gone out and bought kennels for the dogs - they had got out those few nights by climbing out the top. He had since put a roof structure in place over the top and was now certain that they would not get out again. He said 'I have a significant monetary investment in this - let's give this a try and see if it works. ' I said to him that in no uncertain terms, I did not want to have another conversation with him again about this issue. I called him out on his promises, the fact that I thought he was a stand up guy - a man of his word - and I reminded him of our conversation when this had first happened in which he stated that it was completely his responsibility to keep the dogs out.
Looking back on this discussion it absolutely infuriates me to no end that he positioned himself as a victim. I would like to have this conversation back - because I clearly was not ready to respond to that accordingly. I should've ******* handed him his head. I was mad - no doubt - but it didn't translate as well as it could have.
Friends of mine who own dogs say that I should have let him/requested that he put the dogs down - since once they have killed in this manner they will always want to do so. I have to admit - that as much as I did not want him to put the dogs down - I'm now rethinking that. If it comes down to my cats or his dogs - well obviously the dogs lose.
Anyway - I posted because I needed to vent and to set the record straight regarding this idiot's character. Admittedly his initial response was a 'too good to be true' scenario. Maybe he had the best intentions only because he was face to face with us in our home and presented with an overwhelming amount of evidence against him. Maybe because he owns a business he was worried about bad publicity or the possibility of me suing him? I don't really know. Maybe his wife/family turned him - they got the story second hand, they didn't see the pictures, they probably don't like cats and don't care where their dogs run; hell, they've likely been doing this for years.
It is what it is. Needless to say we are looking to move to an acreage; somewhere without neighbors.
At this point however - I will say that since the last episode in Mid October, the dogs have not been caught on the trail camera. So hopefully whatever he has in place is working and continues to work. I just don't have faith in someone so irresponsible as to allow it to happen as many times as it already has. None of my other neighbors with dogs are all that stellar animal people (in my opinion) but they somehow manage to keep their dogs in their yards.
I don't feel like I'm being over-dramatic by saying that the death of Mim has changed our lives. We don't sleep as well. We worry more than ever about our cats. We can't get through a day without acutely feeling the sorrow and loss. And there is a bitterness, anger and resentment that comes with it all. We had hoped at least that wound might heal.
My thanks to all of you again.
I've avoided this thread for obvious reasons - but for the record I should provide an update.
Since the incident - and subsequent meeting with the neighbor who owns the dogs - after what was a very hopeful and positive meeting in which he completely took full responsibility and swore up and down that his dogs would never - (his emphasis) never enter our property again (see prior post if you want all the details) -I am sorry to report that the trail cam has caught the dogs on our porch a few nights in late September (literally a few weeks after Mim was killed) and again for two consecutive nights in October. On both of these occasions I spoke with the neighbor to inform him that whatver he had done or was doing to secure the dogs, it was not working.
On the first occasion his excuse was that he was keeping his dogs in the garage. (Don't ask me why this was a supposed solution, I have no clue - maybe he only kept them in there at night.) Well one evening his wife didn't wait for the garage door to shut completely and thus they got out. He promised that it would not happen again and asked that I 'give him a pass' this one time. He said he was trying to work out a more appropriate solution - and if it didn't work then he was going to put the dogs down. In his words "A $50 shot is a lot better than a 10k fence."
On the next occasion the roles had reversed and he felt as though he was the victim of my harrassment for calling him repeatedly to give him a 'report' on his dogs activity. My how things change when people give you their word and their word is not worth ****. I explained that calling him wouldn't be necessary if he simply kept his goddamn animals confined. He then stated that he has seen our cats on his own trail cam and that they had been in his orchard (he owns an apple orchard) plenty of times. His excuse was now not that his dogs were loose, but that our cats were 'pulling' his dogs into my yard.
Pathetic ****.
I was too livid to state the obvious - which was that our cats have been in yards all over the neighborhood - there are dogs all around us - everyone has dogs and NONE OF THEM are being 'pulled' into our ******* yard. I informed him that pulling them over wasn't necessary - they had already killed a cat and they were clearly hunting for another one in the same place. If those dogs get out - there is not a question about where they are going. They are going straight to my back porch where they killed Mim.
The neighbor then indicated that he had just put into place a solution that he believed would work. He had gone out and bought kennels for the dogs - they had got out those few nights by climbing out the top. He had since put a roof structure in place over the top and was now certain that they would not get out again. He said 'I have a significant monetary investment in this - let's give this a try and see if it works. ' I said to him that in no uncertain terms, I did not want to have another conversation with him again about this issue. I called him out on his promises, the fact that I thought he was a stand up guy - a man of his word - and I reminded him of our conversation when this had first happened in which he stated that it was completely his responsibility to keep the dogs out.
Looking back on this discussion it absolutely infuriates me to no end that he positioned himself as a victim. I would like to have this conversation back - because I clearly was not ready to respond to that accordingly. I should've ******* handed him his head. I was mad - no doubt - but it didn't translate as well as it could have.
Friends of mine who own dogs say that I should have let him/requested that he put the dogs down - since once they have killed in this manner they will always want to do so. I have to admit - that as much as I did not want him to put the dogs down - I'm now rethinking that. If it comes down to my cats or his dogs - well obviously the dogs lose.
Anyway - I posted because I needed to vent and to set the record straight regarding this idiot's character. Admittedly his initial response was a 'too good to be true' scenario. Maybe he had the best intentions only because he was face to face with us in our home and presented with an overwhelming amount of evidence against him. Maybe because he owns a business he was worried about bad publicity or the possibility of me suing him? I don't really know. Maybe his wife/family turned him - they got the story second hand, they didn't see the pictures, they probably don't like cats and don't care where their dogs run; hell, they've likely been doing this for years.
It is what it is. Needless to say we are looking to move to an acreage; somewhere without neighbors.
At this point however - I will say that since the last episode in Mid October, the dogs have not been caught on the trail camera. So hopefully whatever he has in place is working and continues to work. I just don't have faith in someone so irresponsible as to allow it to happen as many times as it already has. None of my other neighbors with dogs are all that stellar animal people (in my opinion) but they somehow manage to keep their dogs in their yards.
I don't feel like I'm being over-dramatic by saying that the death of Mim has changed our lives. We don't sleep as well. We worry more than ever about our cats. We can't get through a day without acutely feeling the sorrow and loss. And there is a bitterness, anger and resentment that comes with it all. We had hoped at least that wound might heal.
My thanks to all of you again.
sequoia
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- Joined
- Jun 6, 2012
- Reaction score
- 181
I'm so sorry about Mim, Dedalus. And I'm sorry that the neighbor is making a heart-breaking, stressful loss even more challenging. I don't think you are being dramatic at all. You loved Mim, and she was violently taken. That would shake anyone up. 
My thoughts are with you, your partner, and your other cats. I hope that you all find some peace of mind and calm.
My thoughts are with you, your partner, and your other cats. I hope that you all find some peace of mind and calm.
FortyTwo
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OP
To be sure - (Outside of VV) I am surrounded by friends and family members who don't really realize the impact of losing a cat - because they are mostly dog people and very casual about pet loss anyway. Not all of them - but a majority. And I feel like (as anybody would with a tragic and deeply impacting loss) the world should know and recognize this heartbreak.
And that's just not the way it is - even less so for non-human loss.Thank you Moll, FortyTwo and Sequoia. I graciously accept and return your hugs!
