Advice Needed: My Tenant's Cats Has Been Killed by Neighbour's Dogs

Yaren24 on 12/06/2022 - 14:36

Hi everyone,

long story short, my tenant who has got 3 cats, this morning has been killed by his neighbor's 2 dogs,

Both of the cats are loving cats and never provoked any neighbour dogs in the past, never wondered to other neighborhoods, most of the time they have rested in front of door and sit under sun . The investigation has been conducted, the owner of the dogs seemed to had alcohol last night and forgot to close his gates. The other neighbour also witnessed this.

Through the discussions with the investigator, it seems to be they are looking at ways of regulating the dogs; but I am not sure yet, I am not sure how to aid my tenant as he is in 70s who needs help.

I am not sure how to help him at the moment.

thanks

Pets

Comments

    • Yaren24 on 12/06/2022 - 18:41
      +2

      Bull staffy

      • screensaver on 12/06/2022 - 18:47
        +1

        it was a staffy that did the same in my yard

        • Yaren24 on 12/06/2022 - 19:15

          Coincidence?

          • screensaver on 12/06/2022 - 19:17

            @Yaren24: dont think so

            • Yaren24 on 12/06/2022 - 19:18
              +1

              @screensaver: I thought staffy are affectionate breeds. Didn't know until today

              • screensaver on 12/06/2022 - 19:19
                +2

                @Yaren24: after what I saw, I dont like them at all

              • SydStrand on 12/06/2022 - 20:49
                +9

                @Yaren24: Most staffies are affectionate, anxious wimps. But like rotties, they're often adopted by scumbags because they look 'tough,' so they're over-presented as maladjusted problem dogs that get put down or surrendered to the pound.

              • DarwinBoy on 14/06/2022 - 21:17
                +1

                @Yaren24: Generally human friendly, but can easily be animal aggressive. But each dog wil be unique.

      • Muzeeb on 12/06/2022 - 22:09

        Bull staffy

        No such thing but we know what you mean. Were they American or English?

        • Charmoffensive on 13/06/2022 - 13:22

          It's usually an amstaff, I've found.

      • Some Human on 13/06/2022 - 00:04
        +22

        Ah, the Bogan dog of choice.

      • shaybisc on 13/06/2022 - 10:07
        +2

        The usual suspects. Apparently labradors bite more people than they do but whenever you read of some animal or human killed by a dog you know what to expect. Some variety of that type of dog - pit, staffie, bull, cross whatever.

      • scottishdave on 15/06/2022 - 06:13

        It's no wonder. Pit bulls, staffies, huskies are the dogs you see most on Gumtree ads seeking a new home for free. There are many compiled Most Dangerous Dog lists on the web that show they are considered dangerous too. Here's one
        https://advisor.dog/most-aggressive-dog-breeds/

        Some authorities overseas have certain dog breeds banned. Maybe authorities here should follow suit. I think in some areas you cannot keep a dingo for a pet. It's for good reason.

        A neighbour, who has a greyhound, was not allowed to walk her dog without a muzzle until it had gone through a special training program. After the training program, the muzzle came off and two weeks later it mauled another neighbour's small dog in the local off-lead park. The greyhound was put down.

        • Yaren24 on 15/06/2022 - 20:21

          That article looks on part…I have read something online stating the staffys may experienced swelling in the brain which caused such behaviours

  • loropy9 on 12/06/2022 - 18:41
    +1

    I am not sure how to help him at the moment.
    -Organise a cat vigil. Invite pets from around the neighbourhood. Remember not to invite dogs.

    • BargainKen on 14/06/2022 - 14:50
      -1

      Pet semetary 🙃

  • screensaver on 12/06/2022 - 19:27

    actually I had a second incident where a staffy chased a neighbours cat who hid in a car engine and the dog scratched and clawed at the front grlll for ages, tearing the grill to pieces. Somehow the cat survived

    • cashews on 13/06/2022 - 13:08
      +1

      Was it a Jaguar?

  • cille745 on 12/06/2022 - 19:49
    +3

    I've seen a similar situation where a dog killed a cat while on their leashes, with the owner either unwilling or unable to stop them.

    Dog ended up being put down

    • Yaren24 on 12/06/2022 - 20:00
      +1

      I don't know whether is fair to put down a dog when the owner didn't train the dogs properly at the 1st place. Because the dog didn't bite the tenant.

      • garetz on 12/06/2022 - 21:28
        +23

        Of course it is fair, a dogs behavior is entirely the responsibility of the owner, if they fail in that responsibility and the dogs are dangerous to other pets they should be put down 100% of the time without exception. You are allowing your compassion for the dogs to cloud your judgement. What happens when these dogs attack a baby in a stroller instead of cats, you would be much more contrite then.

        • mapax on 12/06/2022 - 21:32
          +5

          Do you say the same about cats that kill wildlife?

          • garetz on 12/06/2022 - 21:36
            +7

            @mapax: Of course, if it can be proven an owner of a domesticated cat is allowing it to kill wildlife and the council wants to put the cat down through an investigation, then it is the council's responsibility to do so.

            Wild cats on the other hand are already being targeted to be euthanized by the authorities.

          • AlanHB on 13/06/2022 - 09:29
            -1

            @mapax: A whataboutism hey. So I guess it is ok for the dogs to also maul a person if they had a criminal past.

            • mapax on 13/06/2022 - 10:38
              +2

              @AlanHB: That’s not a “whataboutism”, it’s ascertaining the persons view on dogs vs cats. Your analogy is ridiculous.

              • AlanHB on 13/06/2022 - 11:59
                -2

                @mapax: It's a perfectly fine analogy. You are implying that the cats deserve it due to their bad behavior (whatabout the bad things cats do), I'm suggesting the same should apply to humans if that is the case.

        • Yaren24 on 12/06/2022 - 21:48
          +10

          I am not sure about these, but the tenant was burying the 2 cats in the backyard near the orange tree, the cats were adopted from RSPCA, I think you are on par with owner's faults, it's definitely a reflection of poor managment; whether putting down or not is not up to me. I was livid as I had them since they were kittens (the tenant is a good friend of mine).

        • Millikano on 13/06/2022 - 07:59
          +11

          A friend had his 12 week old puppy killed by a neighbours two staffy's, who pushed through the fence to get to it.

          Both of the staffys were put down.

          • Canberralad92 on 15/06/2022 - 13:36
            +1

            @Millikano: That nearly calls for bikies. How sad :(

            • Millikano on 16/06/2022 - 17:19

              @Canberralad92: Thanks Canberralad92. It wasn't nice for them at all, such a good pup. A shame about the other dogs too, such a waste, but right that they were put down. Need to make sure people and animals are safe.

        • pufffdragon on 13/06/2022 - 11:02

          Of course it is fair, a dogs behavior is entirely the responsibility of the owner, if they fail in that responsibility and the dogs are dangerous to other pets they should be put down 100% of the time without exception.

          I wish the same applied to scum of the earth parents with sh!#y kids.

  • Sammy Boi on 13/06/2022 - 00:15
    +4

    This would break my heart and it's upsetting to think that this older gentleman would be having to go through this.

  • DemocracyManifest on 13/06/2022 - 01:37
    +4

    The dogs should be put down, and I suspect the council would recommend that. I’ve never seen dogs kill a cat let alone too: so the dogs have been no doubt blooded by the owner. It’ll be a kid next

  • yadq on 13/06/2022 - 06:18
    +7

    Beware: the remaining cat may seek revenge.

  • homerjaysimpson on 13/06/2022 - 07:09
    +13

    I am so sad to hear that, I hope those cats' soul rest in peace and your tenant have my deepest consolation though there is nothing in the world that will ease the pain from this kind of loss, for the tenant they were the part of the family but for others they were just cats. I do really hope the time will help to heal the feeling of loss and shock and rage. I had similar incident way before and still hurts me, all I could think at that time was if I could turn back to time to prevent that from happening, but alas.
    My advice for tenant is to get emotional support from other family members to get through this.

    • Yaren24 on 13/06/2022 - 07:28
      +2

      Thank you

  • 2esc on 13/06/2022 - 09:05
    +1

    The type of dog is generally not the problem but how it is trained.

    A few years ago it was trendy among certain people to own particular breeds and they didnt give the required training those dogs need. Those dogs now have a bad reputation.

    • banana365 on 13/06/2022 - 15:38

      Staffies? I don't think it's a trend, the same "I'm hard, so I need a hard dog" people exist and they still have the same approach to training. The reputation is deserved, not because of the dogs' nature but because of the owners'.

  • PostieMalone on 13/06/2022 - 10:31
    +5

    Cats shouldn't be allowed outside 😤

    • mapax on 13/06/2022 - 10:35
      +8

      Correct. And uncontrolled dogs shouldn’t either.

  • rave75 on 13/06/2022 - 10:38
    +1

    Pitbull? Staffy? Rottw?

    • Yaren24 on 13/06/2022 - 16:15

      Staffy

  • Boogerman on 13/06/2022 - 10:48

    I reckon I could get at minimum $10,000 in a civil lawsuit

    • Yaren24 on 13/06/2022 - 16:15

      How??

      • Boogerman on 13/06/2022 - 19:28
        +4

        I’d argue before a judge that the cat was my child.

        • Some Human on 14/06/2022 - 20:25

          The dog also scratched the 70 year old tenant, so I think that warrants at least another 5k.

  • Cluster on 13/06/2022 - 10:49
    +4

    I expect the dog will be put down. Its proven to be dangerous to other animals. Doesn't matter how much that family loves the pooch, or what a Good Boy he normally was. The dog has to go.

    • Yastiandrie on 15/06/2022 - 07:22
      +1

      By that logic the majority of outside cats should be put down……

  • Cookiescream on 13/06/2022 - 11:05
    +2

    I just hugged my cats 🐈

    Very sad!

  • matt-ozb on 13/06/2022 - 11:51

    Better a cat than a human .. hopefully this forces the owners of the dogs to take action so that children are safe.

  • payless69 on 13/06/2022 - 12:08
    +5

    my tenant who has got 3 cats, this morning has been killed

    The best you can do is arrange a funeral for your tenant before re-advertise the unit!

  • Drakesy on 13/06/2022 - 12:30
    +1

    This is one of the few times that i'd tell a landlord to actually stay out of helping out their tenant.

    It's a council/civil case not a property case as your fence didn't fail, the neighbour failed to close the gate.

    • AustriaBargain on 13/06/2022 - 13:40
      +1

      I don't know why the agent even bothered to tell OP. The entire point of paying an agent is to not ever have to hear about shet like this.

      • DonWilson on 13/06/2022 - 13:47
        +2

        What makes you think there's an agent?

      • Some Human on 14/06/2022 - 20:27

        Op and tenant are good friends.

  • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 12:43
    +6

    Both pet owners are irresponsible, neither should be allowed pets. Neither Cats nor Dogs should be free to roam.

    • 2024 on 13/06/2022 - 13:18
      -1

      The cats weren’t free roaming though. They were on the owners front yard.

      • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 13:21
        +10

        Which means they were unrestrained outside. thankfully a lot of areas are now banning that. Cats are as big a menace as Dogs, and I say that as an animal lover who owns dogs and previously cats.

        • 2024 on 13/06/2022 - 14:22

          They are not banning them on their own property! Councils which are heavy in enforcing this still allow cats on the owners property, unrestrained. SMH

          https://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/ahc-resident/Documents/Animals/RES…

          • [Deactivated] on 13/06/2022 - 15:12
            +13

            @2024: good luck telling a cat to respect the imaginary borders around your property without restraints. lmao

            delusional

            • 2024 on 13/06/2022 - 18:13
              -1

              @[Deactivated]: Good luck telling dogs to do that too, but we survive without locking them indoors don’t we lmao

              • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 18:19
                +5

                @2024: That has to be one of the most ridiculous statements ever, very few dogs can jump 6 foot walls or fences with little to no effort. Dogs are relatively easy to contain. having said that anyone that doesn't contain them also needs to be banned from having pets.

                • 2024 on 13/06/2022 - 18:21

                  @gromit: The thing is - this post is about a dog leaving it’s property to eat 2 cats that were on their own property. Sorry but this story kinda shows that they aren’t easy to contain. Ridiculous to not even bear that in mind when you commented.

                  • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 18:29
                    +3

                    @2024: No from the details it shows a negligent owner that left a gate open while drunk then compounded by the other owner also negligently leaving their cats free to roam unrestrained. I feel for the poor cats and for the dogs, both have bad owners.

                    • 2024 on 13/06/2022 - 18:35

                      @gromit: Having ones pet within their own property boundaries is not negligent

                      • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 18:41
                        +2

                        @2024: in the property boundary but obviously not contained otherwise the dogs would not have had free easy access. e.g. in Canberra any cat born from July 1, they would be in breach of the cat containment laws where the cats must be contained to your property, hopefully such rules are widely adopted everywhere.

                    • Yaren24 on 13/06/2022 - 18:41
                      +1

                      @gromit: The cats were not roaming, they were sitting in front of the door.

                      • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 18:43
                        +5

                        @Yaren24: yep understand that, still not contained. Cats and Dogs should not have freedom to roam, the fact it was sitting on the front door step means while it may not have been roaming at the time it almost certainly was free to roam and like all cats it is a killing machine to native wildlife. It is a sad occurrence, but in my view one that is completely avoidable with responsible owners (of which neither of these were).

                        • Yaren24 on 13/06/2022 - 18:48
                          -1

                          @gromit: I am not sure about killing machine, this is bit over the top. I don't think they both were.

                          • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 19:59
                            +5

                            @Yaren24: They're cats, its what they do, even a well fed cat when left to its own devices will kill for fun. I like cats, but they are killing machines and it is usually owners that say things like "well fluffy would never harm a fly" that are the biggest problems. estimates are the average cat that is not contained kills 100+ animals a year. It is why we need the laws to contain them, owners are just too biased and blinded by their love for their pet to see the damage they do.

                            • [Deactivated] on 13/06/2022 - 21:42
                              +4

                              @gromit: unfortunately it appears many people here own cats and are afraid to acknowledge the reality; they're predators. i did not realise that people were this averse to taking their heads out of the sand, i was semi against the laws (i don't like nanny states), but now i'm for them. hopefully they are adopted nationwide soon enough.

                        • 2024 on 13/06/2022 - 19:02
                          -3

                          @gromit: Ohhh So IF the cat was born after July this year, and IF the cat was in Canberra, that’s when the owner was doing the wrong thing….. so glad you explained that.

                          Not all cats can be bothered with hunting. Sounds like these cats might’ve been like that.

                          • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 19:05
                            +2

                            @2024: Sigh. You should not need laws to be responsible. Sadly the laws are needed because of owners like these.

        • pufffdragon on 13/06/2022 - 14:24
          -2

          Cats are as big a menace as Dogs

          A bit over dramatic don't you think. Fluffy ain't gunna bite my arm off like a rotty would.

          • gromit on 13/06/2022 - 17:56
            +6

            @pufffdragon: Fluffy will kill 10 to 100 times more native animals than rotty will.

            • That Guy on 14/06/2022 - 08:24
              +4

              @gromit: My cat is cute AF, loves laying in the sun and cuddles, isn't an outdoor cat and has never been shown how to hunt….

              But she is an absolute weapon, she will lock on to a bug or a fly and not give up until she has slaughtered it, she sits on the window sill trying to entice birds to get closer. Again, none of this is taught behavior.

            • Some Human on 14/06/2022 - 20:36

              @gromit: Native animals also kill. When I split my wood, these little grey and yellow birds hang around waiting for bugs, worms and termites to be exposed.
              I think one of them even posted it as a deal on OzBirdgain some time ago.

              But do they cop any hate for this? No.

            • pufffdragon on 14/06/2022 - 20:43

              @gromit: My cat will kill the occasional little lizard, no birds or any natives. Wish he would get all the damn minor birds around here though. I think they're more of a menace to native animals than anything else. Seen those things attack possums and tawny frog mouths.

              • dufflover on 14/06/2022 - 22:20

                @pufffdragon: Bit of a contradiction since Noisy Miners are native Australian birds as well.

                There's a couple of cats in my area that seemingly are allowed free to roam. One "at least" has a bell but the other has nothing. Sometimes I see it wandering my backyard where birds sometimes nest in spring.

                If one is truly kept within their own property fair enough but I seriously doubt most owners have 6ft fences with the anti-cat rollers or spikes or keep their cat on a leash in their yard.

                • pufffdragon on 15/06/2022 - 12:12

                  @dufflover: No contradiction, we get the Indian myna variety. Pretty sure they were introduced to the country and are not native.

                  keep their cat on a leash in their yard.

                  Lol, would love to see that. I'd get the popcorn ready.

              • gromit on 14/06/2022 - 23:15

                @pufffdragon: If you see your cat kill the occasional little lizard it means it will be killing exponentially more that you don't see unless you are watching it 24x7. Cats have decimated the native lizard populations. Noisy Miners while annoying and aggressive during breeding are actually part of Australia's eco system, cats are not. However we also have introduced Mynas, if only you could train your cat to just kill them.

                • 2024 on 15/06/2022 - 00:46

                  @gromit: Studies show that residential cats kill more introduced species then native. So thank them for that lol.

                  Anyway your point of view, that the owner of the cats was negligent, is, at the end of the day, just your opinion.

                  Until some legislative process has enacted a law, then the cat owner has done no wrong.

                  He might not give a stuff about the native animals, or anything else except his cats. And that is probably perfectly fine where he lives.

                  It’s not on you to force him to conform to your beliefs. And it’s not on the dogs to punish him for failing to follow your beliefs.

                  It’s up to our representatives to pass a law compelling him to. Petition for change, lobby someone, but don’t be saying some old guy suffering a tremendous amount of grief is negligent for not subscribing to your train of thought.

                  The dog is the one that left it’s yard. The dog is the one that ate the cat. And the dog is the one that ate the second cat.

                  I’m not arguing that cats don’t do damage. I know they do. I am arguing that it simply isn’t fair to strong arm blame onto the victim, in this instance.

                  • gromit on 15/06/2022 - 09:32
                    -2

                    @2024: Sooo you think we should thank a mass murderer because they will also sometimes kill bad people? I am not blaming the cat owners for this, The dog owner is clearly in the wrong and should be treated as such, I would say they are probably even liable for damages. Just pointing out the Cat owner was also doing something very wrong (that doesn't excuse the dog owner).

                    Laws should not be required for people to do the right thing, sadly cat owners seem for the most part incapable of doing the right thing. They will justifiably scream when something harms their cat (I would too), but make up endless excuses like you to ignore the exponentially larger damage their cat is doing.

                  • [Deactivated] on 15/06/2022 - 16:24

                    @2024:

                    Studies show that residential cats kill more introduced species then native. So thank them for that lol.

                    So, applying your logic to conclusion a cat that kills 10 rabbits and 9 Bilbies is rendering a positive service and outcome for the environment.

                    • 2024 on 15/06/2022 - 19:06

                      @[Deactivated]: No I don’t want cats out there same as anyone
                      but I do wonder what’s worse:
                      10 alive rabbits starving 10 bilbies to death
                      Or
                      10 dead rabbits, 9 dead bilbies and 1 alive bilby

                      • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2022 - 11:51

                        @2024: A long bow - or simply release the cat flu

  • darkmoss on 13/06/2022 - 13:21
    +2

    "Hi everyone,

    long story short, my tenant who has got 3 cats, this morning has been killed by his neighbor's 2 dogs" .

    Your neighbor has been killed by 2 dogs, and you're telling Ozbargain about this? Call 000 !

  • AustriaBargain on 13/06/2022 - 13:38

    The tenant witnessed the neighbour leave his gate open, yet decided to leave their cats outside anyway?

    • Yaren24 on 13/06/2022 - 16:17

      He didn't know, it was 2 blocks away, not opposite. so he didn't see it

  • DonWilson on 13/06/2022 - 13:45

    All you can really do is be nice, offer to do whatever is needed and be available.

    If you really want to go above and beyond you could look into building a cat enclosure/convert a patio so the cat can be an indoor cat who can still go outside.

  • Kamsi on 13/06/2022 - 15:05

    I don't care how they punished the owner just don't blame the dogs.

    • banana365 on 13/06/2022 - 15:51
      +1

      Realistically, the dogs' behaviour is the problem (regardless of the cause) and if that cannot be addressed relatively easily then it will be the dogs that pay the ultimate price.

      There are a few shelters that take aggressive dogs but rehoming them is massively more difficult as few are willing/able to invest the time to correct behavioural problems like that.

  • dani1ada on 13/06/2022 - 15:19
    +5

    Why were the cats outside in the first place unmonitored?

  • airtime on 13/06/2022 - 15:38
    +1

    Best way to support your tenant at the moment is to be caring and supportive - both of which by the sounds of it you are already doing. Your tenant has lost 2 of his companions and friends, they will be hurting and starting the mourning process. It sounds like you have known the cats and that the tenant is a friend. I'd go round and make them dinner, bring a nice bottle of Scotch whiskey and sip a dram in memory of the passed cats.

    I doubt the tenant cares much about the investigation or compensation - they will just be hurting for the loss of the cats and also how the died. A caring hand on the shoulder and time spent with them is going to mean a lot.

    • Yaren24 on 13/06/2022 - 18:06

      Thanks mate, i work in the rurally, so I don't usually go home that often, so I probably wouldn't be able to shout him some meals, I understand where you coming from though.

      I have not spoken to him today, I am proposing to take the owner of the dogs to small courts. Otherwise it won't justify the death of beautiful cats as neither of them have done anything wrong to anyone and deserved to be in-ground.

      I have teared through today and I seeking solutions for him because i had them since they were young.

      • airtime on 13/06/2022 - 21:25

        Take care of yourself too. Really great to see good people like yourself caring for others. Thank you.

  • metallum on 13/06/2022 - 15:57

    “my tenant who has got 3 cats, this morning has been killed by his neighbor's 2 dogs“

    Guess it’s time to find a new tenant

  • BookerDeWitt on 13/06/2022 - 18:11
    -2

    Good. The dog did the world a favour. You should be happy. The local Australian wildlife will be.

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