To the man who was walking his 2 dogs on Ondine Road last night! (June 2011)

[InScarlet]

Yes you know who you are! Your two dogs mauled the face of a cat and left it with a broken jaw, teeth hanging out, bleeding and with a brain injury that it was no longer able to stand. We had to rush with this poor stray cat to the 24 hour vets last night for it only to be put down. It's actually worrying that if one of my house mates hadn't witnessed the incident you'd have the left the cat to die on the pavement. You cruel cruel man! :( *rant over*

[Pocket]

Heartbreakingly vile.

[KidKruger]

Get housemate to ID the dog owner and report him.

It may not be first time there may be others who've suffered loss of their pet.

[littlemisssmith]

Dirty scum bag!!! I bet he didnt even attempt to get the dogs off the cat, im personally not a cat fan but this is an absolute disgrace!!!! Good for you for taking the cat and not just leaving it!

[celebrationoftheyear]

WHAT A VILE SCUMBAG. I HOPE KARMA GETS YOU, YOU SICK HUMAN BEING.

[muffins78]

Thats horrific. The poor little cat. And also it is terrible that you were faced with dealing with it. I feel sick to think what pain the little cat went through.

Can we say what the man looks like on here? What type of dogs he had? What he wore?

[tallulah71]

Def positive ID him....MUST be reported.

[James Barber]

If a dog onwer is unable to control or encouraging their dogs to do such things then the dogs are likely to repeat it to another animal of human - it could be your child next.

You must report this to the Police.

[Jason]

Scum. Report him. What a worringly cold and sick human being

[ClareC]

That's disgusting and so sad. What a vile, evil man. He must be local to there, can he be identified and reported? I'm not suggesting a witch hunt on here but wondering if your housemate would recognise him again and if he regularly walks this way.

Sounds horrific, the dogs should at least be muzzled and he should not be permitted to keep dogs!

[benmorg]

This should be reported to the police, especially if the dogs are "weapon dogs" and ought to be muzzled.

[susierose]

This is awlful, Makes me wonder what type of dogs they were? I have a staffy cross who is a gentle loving dog! yet they get a bad name! I wouldnt be supprised if they were jack russels or some small dog! My dog gets attack at the park by small breads! Just proves its not the breed! its how the owners make them. My heart gose out to that poor little cat! may he rest in peace in animal heaven.

[littlemisssmith]

Defo agree with susierose, i bet they were bull terrier breeds of which i have one and mine is so stupidly soft! It really is how the owners raise them as mine was re-homed from a rescue to centre to me and i totally changed his behaviour around!

Lets hope this doesnt give these breed's yet another bad name.

Poor little cat

[InScarlet]

I think they were Jack Russell Terriers. He refused to give us his name and details. But apparently he walks his dogs around here all the time. He has no control over the dogs. One of them tried to attack my house mate whilst she was trying to rescue the cat.

[HennyPenny]

Are you sure it was a stray cat - it must have been very distrssing for you to have to deal with, and as a cat person, am so pleased that you gave it some kindness in its last moments. HP

[pinkhalf]

What did the owner look like - no point blaming the dogs, disgusting as it is, he is the one responsible.

Black/white?

How old?

Tall/short?

[Peckham native]

I've PMed InScarlet with some info as to who it might be.

I don't want to leap to the wrong conclusions here but IF the dogs were Jack Russells there is an older man who lives very locally who walks 2 Jack Russells off lead down Ondine Road and is often on Goose Green. There was a similar incident a couple of months agowith this man and his dogs but luckily the cat was quick and unharmed. He was asked to keep his dogs on a lead and he said he would but only 2 days ago I saw him with one dog off lead on Grove Vale.

The dogs are normally lovely friendly dogs but are terriers so if off lead & see a cat they will chase. How can we stop this happening again?

[first mate]

So many problems like this might be avoided if only people would keep their dogs on a lead when walking outside of the park or private property. I get incensed when people let their dogs off to walk beside them on the pavement, it causes problems all round.

The OP is right, many dogs, but particularly terriers, will try to chase a cat- if they can. In the same way, many cats will stalk and kill a bird or mouse if able. That is just nature. It is down to owners to understand the type of dog they have, the risk it presents to other animals and to control it in public places accordingly.

[JohnL]

When I was a boy our big black tomcat gave the neighboring jack russell a huge nose scratch after it tried it on a bit. the dog just whimpered and didn't come back.

Those dogs must have been brought up to be killers.

[first mate]

JohnL,

Sorry, I don't agree- it depends on the dog. Some are just born highly reactive and with a strong prey drive. Think what most terriers were originally developed for, to go after small furries. Of course, you can try to breed for a more laid back temperament all round, but you still get throwbacks.

I'd also say that a big tomcat would be able to best quite a few small dogs. I've seen dogs chased down the street by a tomcat. However, some terriers are so wired that they'll just go after anything no matter what the consequences- they're predisposed to.

[muffins78]

I had a terrier (maltese) who was a massive softie - but the minute she saw a larger dog, she'd go nuts. Smaller dogs were of no interest to her. She was always on a lead, but I dont know what she thought she'd achieve by going after a huge dog!!!

I agree on part about what you say its to do with the owners and how their dogs behave, some been bred to be vicious, giving other dogs a bad name. But our little dog was a little lady, our house is so quiet etc., it wasnt our behaviour around her which made her so cross when she saw a bigger dog. I dont get it.

That man is completely horrible and irresponsible though, if he knows he cannot control his dogs, they should be on a lead all the time. He is not a responsible owner and the dogs should be removed from his care, if he is not looking out for them.

It is in different animals nature to behave in certain ways, and if they by nature act it out, because their owner is not responsible, then I don't think dogs should be punished. I know this is not what the thread is about (dogs should be put asleep etc if they bite), it truly makes me sad to hear about dogs been put asleep because they've bitten simply because the owners are neglecting them in terms of behaviour training and/or because they are not on a lead or properly monitored.

[first mate]

Owners have to take account of the type of dog they have. If I have a terrier I know that it may have a strong prey drive, so I take that into account when training, harnessing those drives and instincts in more community friendly ways, like teaching the pup/dog to chase balls, do scent work and so on.

If I have a Staff or other bull breed type, I know that I have to do a lot of work in terms of socializing him/her with other dogs, understanding how to interact and how to play without causing a bust up. Staffs are often bad at communicating with other dogs and both give off and get mixed messages. Ditto prey drive with other dogs.

If I have a wary/guardy breed like a GSD, an Akita or Dobermann, I know I have to work hard to socialize them around people and life in general so they learn to understand what they need to react to and what they don't.

If I have a Husky I know I'm going to probably have to keep it on the lead most of the time as they are not great at recall. They can also easily scale a 7 foot fence.

The list goes on. The onus is always on the owner. In most cases, various breeds or types of dogs, have evolved to perform a function and that gives massive clues as to how easily they will integrate into your lifestyle and what training/socialization they'll need. There are always exceptions and there are always extremes in terms of breed/type traits.

[bonniebird]

Poor cat :( thats so sad, why do people insist on walking along streets with there dogs off lead? Its just cocky. I would be worried about my dogs being killed by a car at the least. Isn't it against the law to be offlead on the street/road?

[first mate]

HI BB,

The law is a mess on that score and I hope they get it sorted soon. It would be one of the simplest remedies. My understanding, though I am happy to be corrected, is that you can walk a dog offlead on a pavement provided it is under control (presumably a dog that goes after a cat is not under control- but this is not a given). However, I beleive that under the local bylaws you cannot cross a public road unless your dog is on a lead. So if the man concerned was observed crossing a road dogs off lead that my be grounds for prosecution.

With regard to the cat, because it is a stray I just don't know. Cats like dogs are viewed as property and the damage is to your property- I think. In terms of DDA it is a tough one as has already been argued, aggression to a cat is not the same thing at all as aggression to a human and a perfectly lovely dog in every other way may go for a cat it does not live with. To argue that this proves it could also go for a child is erroneous and would not stand up in court.

If there are any lawyers out there who know the law it would be good to know if it would be possible to prosecute the man in question and on what grounds.

[muffins78]

Im not a lawyer, but under the Animal Welfare Act - I'm sure there would be a way to prosecute him. I wonder could the RSPCA help?

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/45/section/4