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#727593 - 05/07/07 04:42 PM
neighborhood bully upsetting pets
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southeast
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Approximately 15 year old boy lets his smallish (maybe 15-20 lbs.) dog off leash. Dog terrorized one of our cats up trees in our backyard twice, and another one of our cats has been missing for 4 days. When we confronted his stepfather, the man phoned [presumably] the boy's mother and said, "[boy's name] is at it again, really upsetting more of the neighbors."
I won't repeat what my husband said he'd do to the dog if he saw it loose in our yard again.
When we saw the dog on leash with the stepfather, the dog whimpered a bit at the sight of me, but let me scratch it under its chin while the stepfather had it on leash. The stepfather previously told me that the dog loves to chase cats, but the dog clearly can be controlled with a leash and collar; I had no problem grabbing the leash when the dog was in our back yard.
The local community does have a leash law.
Any suggestions? Thanks -
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From the end spring new beginnings. Pliny the Elder
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#727595 - 05/07/07 04:47 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
Phoenix
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#727679 - 05/07/07 06:03 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
hmdagal
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TX
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Confront the boy. Ask him to keep the dog on the leash when walking by your yard. Keep asking each time you see the dog off of the leash. Most of the time, teens will do as they are asked because they don't like to be nagged over and over again about the same thing. If he has a routine time to walk the dog by, be standing outside to see if he is complying with your request. From my experiences, fences don't mean squat to cats and it wont really help.
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#727697 - 05/07/07 06:20 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
TXBSA
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southeast
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Agree about the fence being useless. Cat scrambled 20 feet up each tree, far above where we could even put the feral cat fencing that's available that angles in. We also have so many trees in our tiny backyard that there's no obvious route for any sort of fence.
We both work, but I do like the idea of "nagging" as we can until we get the desired behavior.
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#727723 - 05/07/07 06:46 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
Phoenix
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SC
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The local community does have a leash law.
Any suggestions? Thanks - I'd give the family one more chance to correct the situation and then contact the agency reponsible for enforcing the law to determine what they will need from you in order to file a complaint.
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#728211 - 05/08/07 03:59 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
JacF
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Pulling people out of the ditc...
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so you expect the dog to be on a leash, but not your cat? how funny. bleach around the perimiter of your yard will keep the dog away. so will a fence. call the police about the dog being off the leash. teens will do as they are asked because they don't like to be nagged over and over again about the same thing obviously stated by someone without a teen...
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#728237 - 05/08/07 04:31 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
Cowboys Fan
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The local community does have a leash law.
Any suggestions? Thanks - I'd give the family one more chance to correct the situation and then contact the agency reponsible for enforcing the law to determine what they will need from you in order to file a complaint. I agree. Give the family one more chance and then you can contact your local animal control and have them go to the family and speak to them about this.
Last edited by QueenBee; 05/08/07 04:32 PM.
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#728247 - 05/08/07 04:39 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
anon2006
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Cheeseheadland
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In rereading this thread...how can your cats run up a tree unless they too are outside unleashed???
Are they wandering into the neighbors yard and baiting the dog and kid?? Maybe the kid is trying to teach you a lesson about wandering animals??
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#728252 - 05/08/07 04:41 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
#Just Jay
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This is an interesting point - I think you should research if the leash law is specific to dogs.
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#728351 - 05/08/07 06:07 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
Fork Ate Spoon
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Scratch that... Buy a Liger.
it's only my favorite animal
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#728385 - 05/08/07 06:49 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
Bailey.
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southeast
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My husband phoned the local animal control office: if the dog is in OUR yard again, not controlled by its owner, we can grab it and hold it and call Animal Control and let Animal Control handle the situation.
Yes, we let some of our cats outside. In the incident described, the cat was in our backyard. The dog was not controlled, and, dragging its leash, chased our cat up one, then another, of the trees in our backyard.
I doubt cats "bait" dogs. Sometimes dogs and cats like to chase each other. Most of the time, though, they just stay out of each other's way.
One of our other neighbors hinted that the dog and the boy have caused problems before, and the boy's stepfather seemed to confirm that. Since another one of our cats is now missing, we're especially concerned.
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From the end spring new beginnings. Pliny the Elder
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#728409 - 05/08/07 07:20 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
RR Becca
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Posts: 7,988
FINALLY ABOVE the gnat line
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How many of your communities have a leash law that requires a cat to be on a leash? Cats don't attack people unprovoked. Some dogs do when allowed to run wild. Hence the leash laws in most communities.
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#728419 - 05/08/07 07:32 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
waldensouth
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Cheeseheadland
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How many of your communities have a leash law that requires a cat to be on a leash? Cats don't attack people unprovoked. Some dogs do when allowed to run wild. Hence the leash laws in most communities. In Wisconsin, we do not have leash laws on cats, we assume they are ferral and simply shoot them. Don't get me wrong...I have three cats (none of which are allowed outside), even if the kid is a trouble maker, I do not think it is fair to hold him to a different standard than you and your own pets. Yes, if his dog will be outside in their yard off the leash, he should be supervised. That should also go for your cats too. What is good for the goose...
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#728574 - 05/08/07 09:01 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
RR Becca
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Posts: 832
southeast
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Many of you bring up some good cautionary notes, and that's why I posted this - to just impulsively react could cause a number of very negative and unnecessary consequences, both to the pets and potentially to some people. That's why I couldn't think of an obvious answer. To simply lash out at the boy, or the dog - hey, there are far worse things he and/or the dog could do; yet to do nothing didn't seem quite right.
When this incident first unfolded, the cat that ultimately went up the trees was curled up on a chair on a deck 2 stories above the yard. She and another cat were looking in the dog's direction warily enough that I figured they'd stay on the deck. Instead, the boy acted his age, and the dog and cat acted typical of their species. We're genuinely concerned that the missing cat may be injured or dead because of something we didn't witness that the boy or dog may have done; that's why I (we) really appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks again!
(BTW, I think our suburb would frown on our owning tigers or ligers!)
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From the end spring new beginnings. Pliny the Elder
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#728605 - 05/08/07 09:29 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
Phoenix
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Posts: 19,935
Pulling people out of the ditc...
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Cats don't attack people unprovoked If my granny was still alive, I'd introduce you to her cat Ms. Miller, who often attacked anything within 10 feet of her. I still have scars today (30 years later) on my ankle where she bit me. I was sitting watching TV, didn't even know she was in the room.
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#728609 - 05/08/07 09:32 PM
Re: neighborhood bully upsetting pets
HappyGilmore
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Posts: 5,112
In hades.
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Just dig some punji pits on your property, problem solved.
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