Is this my fault? Was I wrong to do this?

Question

My next door neighbor's cat keeps coming over to my yard over the fence. I told him to keep the stupid thing out of my yard many times. I finally got sick of it and let my 2 dobermans (Skye and Polo) out and Polo got him.

Sorry for the cat lovers but Polo killed the cat. Now my neighbor wants me to buy him a new cat. It was a Persion or something expensive. I told him your cat was on my property and got what it desired.

If he sues me I would win Right?

Answer 1

COUNTER sue HIM for TRESSPASSING! If he kept his damn cat INSIDE where the little devil beast belonged, it would NOT have become a Dobie Snack. Next time, just get a pellet gun and smack the evil cats in the butt. That works at keeping them OUT of your yard.

But now that Polo has a TASTE for kitty, how are you going to keep him from eating up all the neighbourhood cats?? I'd put out a bird feeder as a cat bait..........

Answer 2

A lawsuit is normally won by the party who has the better lawyer.
So - if your neighbor has some financial resources and is really motivated because he loved his cat he will buy a really good lawyer.

Whether it was wrong or right by law what you did also may depend on the state you live in. They regulate what you can or can not do on your property all in different ways.

From my personal moral perspective it was wrong to let the dogs kill the cat. Just because paying with life/health for just disturbing or annoying someone is not appropriate, it's an order of magnitued apart (in "currency" terms) - whatever being it is about. You may see that different.

But therefore from my perspective - for all the reasons above - I (and that's just me, really) would offer the neighbor a new cat and an apology. In future they will be trying to keep their cat from your garden if they can. They probably can't because cats don't listen as dogs do.

Well - my suggestion is about giving peace of mind to all parties.

And - I am a dogowner and know our dog would have done the same and he roams free in the backyard.

Answer 3

It depends. Does your town have an ordinance against cats running loose (ours does). If so, then the cat was in your yard and your dogs got it in thier yard. I don't think the cat owner has a case then. If your dogs left their yard to get the cat, then you're at fault for letting your dogs off your property. If I had a cat I cared about I'd see to it that it didn't run at large and at risk of dogs, cars and disease. If you want good relations with your neighbor get him a new cat with a signed agreement that he'll keep the cat in his yard. If you don't have the money for that let him take you to court and see what happens. Check your city ordinances first and if there's a leash law on cats you can show him that. I love animals too, but pets running at large are a nuisance and are in danger. If people really care about their pets they should keep them safe in their own yards

Answer 4

Let me first say I am a cat lover and think that if you have a cat then you should keep them inside away from harm
Now let me say that was a cruel thing to do to any animal.
If they sue, you will most likly lose and not only paying for a new cat along with some emotional damage, they could rule to have both of your dogs put down.
I love all animals but what you did was very wrong.
It will most likly end up you will pay for a new cat and lose both of your dogs.
Was a cat in your back yard worth the lives of your dogs along with the finacial loss to buy a new cat?

Answer 5

Could go either way.

You yard is fenced in and your dogs were contained on your property so that is a plus. However; you are also to maintain control of your pet. Neither of these did the cat owner do.

I have let my five beasts and fosters out the back door to find a cat running for its life. I figure its my yard I can let my dogs out. Didn't think I had to watch other peoples animals. (That's your story stick to it)

If you can check out profiles on yahoo check the pic for kittyxxx13 My neighbor took the picture it is a stray that I got altered and shots and she feeds it but it won't stay in the house. It was stupid enough to come to my house.

Answer 6

I agree with Heather B. The poor kitty is incapable of realizing he was trespassing. The owners, however, should have been more watchful of were kitty was going. We have this same problem in in our neighborhood. There is an abandoned lot where my neighbor across the street feeds the strays, which breed and thus have more strays (which may carry diseases). My husband is an avid hunter and is tempted to poke his rifle out the window and take em out when those cats come into our yard. But he never does that because it is MORALLY WRONG to do so. You should have just called ANIMAL CONTROL or just talked to the neighbors about how the cat erks you when he ventured in your yard.

Answer 7

Not sure if he's even got grounds to sue you as like you said the cat was on your property. Pity the cat didn't just get a scare from the dogs though, as if it had escaped it would have thought twice before returning! Think maybe you should try and make amends with your neighbour as after all his cat has met a traumatic end and he must be very upset.

Answer 8

Well, it was on your property when your dogs got to it, so it's likely he wouldn't be able to sue you.

HOWEVER, that was a very selfish and ignorant way to deal with the situation, and you should have found another way to deal with the problem before costing the cat its life. There are alternatives to keeping unwanted cats out of your yard that you should have researched before just killing the cat. (I listed a couple resources at the bottom of this post.)

So, yes, you were wrong to do that. People like you are the reason I keep my cat indoors--which, just to not seem completely like an evil witch here--your neighbor should have been more responsible for his cat and kept it inside, too. I don't see any possible gain with keeping your pet cat outdoors (unwanted kittens, fleas/ticks, diseases, threat of getting hit by a car, and people like you are prime examples of why NOT to keep a cat outdoors.)

I don't think you should be responsible for buying him a new cat, considering that he obviously didn't care enough for this one to keep it indoors after you warned him.

I would highly recommend that the next time you're in a situation like this, you explore more civil ways to deal with the situation.

http://www.sfspca.org/behavior/cat_library/catsoutofyard.pdf#search=%22cat%20in%20yard%22

http://www.drjeffnichol.com/cat/faqs/yard.html

http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/factsheets/cats_in_yard.pdf#search=%22cat%20in%20yard%22

Answer 9

You better buy your neighbor another cat like he wants, then maybe he won't sue you. I doubt if you would win since you admitted to turning your dogs loose on the cat. Why didn't you just turn the hose on the cat? I'm sure the cat would learn to not come over to your yard, because most cats don't like water.

Answer 10

Unless he's making your house payments you are right. Your property your dogs your fence. His cat was trespassing. Cats will sit outside a fence just to drive dogs nuts. If they get stupid and climb over its their problem. A friend of mine had the same problem with his neighbor's poodle. It kept coming over and yapping at his Husky/wolf cross. One day it underestimated the length of Klug's chain and wound up on the menu. The neighbor tried to sue but Al had warned him numerous times about it. Some people are just slow on the uptake.

Answer 11

I think what you did was wrong on so many levels, regardless of you winning/losing a law suit.

if he can prove, or get the judge to beleive, that you knew the dogs would kill the cat when you let it out then you will probably have to pay. I would think it would put the dogs at risk too, since they would be labeld as aggressive.