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Omg, the neighbour is a bleep! Sorry but he is. I hope karma gets him 10fold. Told Niall he has no remorse for his dog killing Poppy and he’s not going to do anything to try and prevent it happening again. I can’t quite believe it. How can you be that heartless.it’s evil. I’d be beside myself if my dog had done that.
I agree….I would be absolutely devastated if my dog injured/killed another pet or even animal in general! I would be inconsolable most likely, it’s one of the worst things imaginable and to have that happen and then the owner turn round to you and say something like that? I honestly would have knocked his lights out! I feel so angry for them both! But that’s oneof the reasons I tend not to let our new puppy off a lead, even our old dog as lovely as he was had tendencies to get a bit aggressive when he was scared on occasion and I was always so worried he would hurt another dog or person because they might do something he didn’t like or wasn’t expecting, that I just was always so carefully to let other people know to be wary and keep him away from dogs I knew might be a problem, I’ve always felt you can’t 100% trust a dog as they are wild animals and I’d rather not take the risk! If I knew my dog could be aggressive to cats and other domestic animals for whatever reason, and I knew my neighbours had them, I’d be making sure I was straight round there to warn them as I’d be so worried!!!
Oh my HEART!
See this is why I never understand the grief people give me when I say I don't like dogs. I'm biased because I am an avid cat lady, but dogs are scary, clingy, dangerous (obvs not all of them) and messy.
Cats for life
See this is why I never understand the grief people give me when I say I don't like dogs. I'm biased because I am an avid cat lady, but dogs are scary, clingy, dangerous (obvs not all of them) and messy.
Cats for life
As much as the owner is a horrible person I disagree with people saying to report the dog, unfortunately if Poppy was in next doors’ garden the dog would’ve just been following its natural instincts that are quite hard to just “train it not to do”, it’s not the dogs fault. If you’ve got a prey driven breed you can secure your garden with as much fencing as you want but if a cat wants to get in to hunt birds/mice as Poppy often did then they will do. If it had’ve killed a cat in public whilst off the lead then that’s definitely an offence and should be reported. By the sounds it’s just an awful accident that could’ve been helped if the owner had shown sympathy and remorse yet he hasn’t.
Wow at the neighbour’s response. In this case, I would definitely report the neighbour. Not sure if there’s much that can be done right now but if nothing else it will be good to have him on record as being an irresponsible pet owner if anything else happens in the future. How awful.
But how is he an irresponsible pet owner?
By the sounds of it, the dog was secured in his own yard.
As far as I'm aware, there are no laws against keeping Greyhounds as domestic pets In the UK.
Whilst this is an utterly tragic thing to happen, and the owner sounds like a right twit, Unfortunately I don't think there is anything to be done.
Greyhounds are instinctively kill focused. Especially small animals.
In my country, they must be muzzled when out in public, even when on a lead.
But in your own garden? That's his domain.
Many arguments will be had about cats and cat owners who let their animals roam free outside of their own property.
But it doesn't change what has happened here.
It's heartbreaking.
He’s irresponsible because he said he wasn’t willing to do anything to prevent this from happening in the future and doesn’t care if his dog hurts or kills other cats in the neighbourhood. You can never guarantee anything with dogs but the least he can do is try to train his dog not to attack cats. I sure hope he doesn’t let his dog off leash outside of his property.
Training a Greyhound not to go after small animals, in their own territory, is unrealistic.
As hard as it is to take emotion out of the equation, if you step back and look at what could have prevented this from happening, then the responsibility lies with Meggan and Niall.
It's their animal. If they let it roam, then they can't guarantee its safety.
If I knew a Greyhound lived next door, no way in hell I'd let my small animals roam across the fence.
What would I realistically expect my neighbours to do in future?
Keep their dog inside and not let it out in its own yard?
There's no win here. Terribly sad.
I disagree. It’s very possible to train a greyhound not to chase cats. It may not be easy, and it’ll never be guaranteed as I said earlier, but to not even try is irresponsible when you know your dog has already killed your neighbour’s cat. I would feel horrible if my dog ever did that and I would do everything in my power to make sure it never happens again.
As I said earlier, having an outdoor cat always comes with these kind of risks. I personally have always kept my cats indoors (it’s actually illegal to let pet cats free roam in my area). But even though this happened in his yard, I still think the owner bears responsibility for training his dog. Now that his dog has killed, who’s to say he won’t try again when he’s outside his yard? What if he escapes one day?
I hope Megan and Niall are able to at least warn all their other neighbours to keep a close eye on their pets. I would feel so unsafe living near someone who doesn’t care if his dog kills other people’s pets and has such a heartless attitude.
As I said earlier, having an outdoor cat always comes with these kind of risks. I personally have always kept my cats indoors (it’s actually illegal to let pet cats free roam in my area). But even though this happened in his yard, I still think the owner bears responsibility for training his dog. Now that his dog has killed, who’s to say he won’t try again when he’s outside his yard? What if he escapes one day?
I hope Megan and Niall are able to at least warn all their other neighbours to keep a close eye on their pets. I would feel so unsafe living near someone who doesn’t care if his dog kills other people’s pets and has such a heartless attitude.
I agree with this totally.
Emotion has to be taken out and the bigger picture looked at here.
The dog was contained in a private garden and Poppy was on their property. I don't care how well trained a greyhound (or any dog for that matter is), many dogs will protect their home.
I have a terrier and if a bloody bird lands on the grass in the garden shes after it.
Cats attack and kill millions of birds, mice etc, they are also technically not under control once they are off your property.
Animals are animals and you can't humanize them, they work differently.
Its just one of those really crappy things to happen with no one really to blame, although the owner of the dog sounds like a bleep!
I feel for Nial and Meggan but all they can do is make sure they're garden is 100% secure for the dogs and grieve.
I do really hope they are ok!
It is ultimately a very tragic accident and sadly any dog is capable to do this if another animal comes into theirs territory. The big issue here is the neighbours response. It would have made a huge difference to Meggan and Niall if they had shown remorse, had been kind, had offered to pay for her to be cremated, had wrapped her in a blanket, shown they cared and how sorry they were. They could say we will try and cat proof our garden as much as possible, I think that would go a long way in the healing process, but to know he didn’t give a tit will just be another level of devastation.
This! It’s terrible and a tragedy but the dog acted on instinct in their own property. However the face the owner has shown no remorse is repulsive. How hard would it be to be sympathetic that someone’s pet has been killed and show some empathy. Alarming there’s people out there who wouldn’t be heartbroken and kind in such situation.
thats horrible from the neighbour. Fair enough, it’s not his fault, but it would be nice if they at least showed a little remorse. I’m not a dog owner, but if my future dog killed any animal, let alone a pet, I’d feel terrible!
we can’t really call the neighbour irresponsible as we don’t know anything about him or his garden, or how the dog was kept, anything like that. But some empathy from him would be nice.
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I agree with almost everything you said here. Apart from the part highlighted. I think the neighbour is a bleep and a horrible person by the sounds of it. But why should they have to cat proof their garden? It's not his cat! It's as much instinct for that greyhound to kill that cat as it is for an outdoor cat to roam into other people's gardens. I used to live beside a family with two cats who always came into my garden to try wind up my German Shepard. They would sit on top of the shed where he couldn't get them and hiss at him. Now if my next door neighbour asked or tried to insinuate I need to cat proof MY garden I would have told him where to go...
You'll have a hard time convincing dog owners to train their dog not to chase a cat that has come into their own garden I'm afraid...
My grandparents are constantly upset that outdoor cats are allowed to hunt and kill the wildlife in their garden yet they don't expect people to train their cats to ignore an instinct.
I wasn’t speaking about things that happen in the future in his garden, rather the potential danger outside of his garden. I think all dog owners have a responsibility to train their dogs well, and from his attitude and lack of empathy it doesn’t sound like he’s a responsible owner, but I digress. I’ll agree to disagree.
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I'm so sad, I just keep thinking about what a horrible end Poppy had and it's heartbreaking. Absolutely horrible. I love dogs, but honestly if a dog did that to my cat I would report it regardless of whether it's in it's own garden or not... it's a new neighbour and Poppy has obviously been used to going there prior to this and the neighbour moving in and feeling safe. The fact that that neighbour is basically saying they don't care/won't do anything to prevent this happening further is definitely dangerous. If he's not willing to be a responsible pet owner - he shouldn't have a pet. Quite simple.
I love cats and dogs equally, but sad accidental situations like this highlight why most cat rescues will now only strictly rehome on the basis the cat will be indoors forever, especially in suburban/urban areas. The risk of being run over, injured/killed by dogs, foxes etc, being poisoned and the harm cats do to local wildlife are just a few reasons they stipulate this. People that still want their cats to venture outside safely are able to build cat runs etc if they wish as part of these conditions. I think it's unfair to suggest that the dog should be on a lead/muzzled or kept inside in it's own home just so cats can go hunting.
I agree. I’m definitely more of a cat lady, but I don’t dislike dogs. I do think there is a lot of vitriol towards cats and their owners, my local Facebook page has plenty of that, and again with the attitude from Meggan’s neighbour. But providing the neighbour did everything right with regards to his dog, he can’t really be blamed. It’s a truly horrendous accident. I do agree that cat runs or ‘catios’ are the way forward for all the reasons listed above. I’m in a flat so my cat is indoor, and I’m sure people will say it’s cruel, but she’s perfectly happy, and I’m happy to know she’s safe.
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