[Update] it’s a black cat, no doubt it is a cat. Most likely a pet and not feral.
[update] All these unnecessary bias comments by cat owners doesn’t help the cause. Pets should not disturb other people or their property. If owners don’t take responsibility for their own pets, then offending pets will be treated as pests and dealt accordingly.
The story is that one of my neighbours has a cat. The cat comes around to my house and gets into all my pet enclosures. Birds, chickens and fish are all being massacred. I use the word massacre because just tonight, I have disembodied animal corpses everywhere covering almost half my property. The best similarity would be like a lake of dead floating fish or field of dead birds dropped from the sky.
I have a dog which has a really strong prey drive which I mainly keep inside my house.
Now my question is do I let my dog into the backyard when the cat comes? If not, what should I do?
If I do let the dog into my backyard, he will most definitely catch the cat. He has over 40 confirmed bird/pest kills. Then there is the question is will the cat be alive when it is caught or what I am going to do with the dead cat. Do I return it to the owner or do I throw it in the bin?
If I don't let my dog into the backyard, I will be having more losses and attracting more predators like cats and foxes who use my backyard as a hunting ground.
As a responsible pet owner, I don't allow my dog to bark nor does he bark, go outside my property without a leash or to torment anybody else.
I think the same should go for any other pets. I'm deeply upset because of all these innocent animals died a painful slow death which I have nurtured and also because I have to clean up the bloodbath that awaits tomorrow. If a fox or any other predators comes into my backyard, I would have let me dog out to deal with the intruder. But because the cat is most likely somebodies pet, I am reconsidering my options. It is heartbreaking for farmers unable to help their suffering livestock and it's exactly how I feel.
Please go knock on your neighbours doors and find out who's it is first, or get the name tag if you can catch it. I'm sure your neighbour will be happy to help resolve the issue. It would be a shame to kill a cat when the owner wasn't aware of what was happening at your property. If they tell you to piss off, then just call the ranger who will sort it out.