My wife called me at work today. I guess one of our neighbours had rang the doorbell. When she answered the door the guy yells...
"Is that your goddam black dog?"
Not "Hello..." or "Hi, I live a few doors down and..."
You see, we don't have a fence right now. Well we do, but there are huge holes in it. We bought the house that way (with a broken fence). It is on the agenda to be repaired. I even have all the materials in the garage. I'm just waiting for a weekend without snow or rain so I can get it done.
So we let our dog out into our yard and the honest truth is he doesn't stray. He stays in our yard. Not because he is trained to or anything, but because he is a calm and friendly (and old) dog who just needs to go outside every now and then. Usually he sits on the grass and does a whole lot of nothing.
I guess yesterday however this cat from down the street wandered into our backyard. Our dog of course chased the cat. Not a snarling, barking chase but a "hey lets play" chase. He chased the cat two doors down, which is further then he has ever strayed.
So the neighbour comes knocking on the door, and not in a nice way going on about my "goddam dog". He was rude, sputtering, and crusty. To my wifes credit she held her ground. She explained that our dog would never hurt his poor cat. She explained that we planned on fixing the fence as soon as we could. She apologized for the inconvenience. Yet the guy kept coming...
So then she asked what his cat was doing in our yard in the first place? Doesn't he understand that by allowing his cat roam outdoors he is taking some inherent risks and should accept that? She mentioned that his cat spends alot of time sitting on our front porch which upsets our animals. (We've been woken up many times to the sound of our cat screaching at this invader she sees outside the window... this of course causes our dog to bark... its a vicious escalation)
So she basically told him to piss off and to keep his cat off our property or he is fair game.
The thing is, if the guy had come to the door and said "Hi, I'm your neighbour from two doors down. I just noticed your dog chase my cat into my backyard. I've never seen him before and I hate to complain but I love my cat and if anything were to happen..."
Of course we would have apologized and told him it would never happen again.
Either way, I guess I finally have to fix that fence this weekend... rain or shine.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
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3 comments:
You're 50% at fault. And I bet your dog never poops anywhere but in his own yard. Riiiiight. Put him on a wire run if you want to let him have some room to move in. FYI, YOU are responsible for any damage or injury your dog causes no matter where that dog is. Confine your animals.
As for the wandering cat, silence is golden. Try a Havahart trap. Adios, gato.
The cat should be on a leash, too, if it has to go outside. Cats should not wander any more than dogs. When loose they are an invasive environmental disaster.
In the unlikely event that the cat will come into your yard again, collect the cat and bring it to the shelter. You are allowed to catch any animals on your property.
The dog was doing his job and the stray cat was in his territory.
Sorry, but I find no sympathy for you in this situation. Even though in most states there may not be leash laws for cats, nor tresspassing laws for them either, there are definitely leash laws for dogs in effect. Yours should have been on a leash until you got around to putting up a fence, no matter how well "trained" he was to stay on your property. Just be grateful that the cat didn't dart across a street. Had your dog given chase, he could have been hit by a car or truck.
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