Guy gets dog to kill cat? WTF is wrong with some people?
Discussion
To those of you talking about cats impacting on wildlife, to add my own experience -
There's around 5 cats (none of them mine) in my street and the place is absolutely teeming with birds and wildlife.
At my parent's place in a different village, there's even more cats about, and again, the area has a LOT of wildlife - and always has done - and there's always been loads of cats about.
I'm not saying that cats don't hunt & kill stuff, of course they do. I'm simply saying despite being around cats and wildlife all my life, I've never seen the "decimation" being described here.
There's around 5 cats (none of them mine) in my street and the place is absolutely teeming with birds and wildlife.
At my parent's place in a different village, there's even more cats about, and again, the area has a LOT of wildlife - and always has done - and there's always been loads of cats about.
I'm not saying that cats don't hunt & kill stuff, of course they do. I'm simply saying despite being around cats and wildlife all my life, I've never seen the "decimation" being described here.
Edited by TheJimi on Wednesday 13th November 20:52
TheJimi said:
To those of you talking about cats impacting on wildlife, to add my own experience -
There's around 5 cats (none of them mine) in my street and the place is absolutely teeming with birds and wildlife.
At my parent's place in a different village, there's even more cats about, and again, the area has a LOT of wildlife - and always has done - and there's always been loads of cats about.
I'm not saying that cats don't hunt & kill stuff, of course they do. I'm simply saying despite being around cats and wildlife all my life, I've never seen the "decimation" being described here.
Used to live in the country... in the arse end of nowhere.There's around 5 cats (none of them mine) in my street and the place is absolutely teeming with birds and wildlife.
At my parent's place in a different village, there's even more cats about, and again, the area has a LOT of wildlife - and always has done - and there's always been loads of cats about.
I'm not saying that cats don't hunt & kill stuff, of course they do. I'm simply saying despite being around cats and wildlife all my life, I've never seen the "decimation" being described here.
Edited by TheJimi on Wednesday 13th November 20:52
My cat liked to contribute to the weekly food shopping.
Birds
Rats
Rabbits
Hares ( too big to get through the cat flap - so would decapitate it ).
Most of the study it brought in - in brought in stunned/ injured and then toyed with it.
It was a fine art - to try to reward her for being a good contributor - and somehow getting a terrified animal out of the house.
They are killing machines.
pequod said:
How do we stop domestic cats from decimating wildlife is the question that is yet to be addressed and whilst we continue to excuse this by saying that cat behaviour is instinctive doesn't wash, IMHO, otherwise one could argue that the wolf (now conditioned to be a domestic dog) killing whatever it can catch, whether trained or not, is also instinctive.
Dog behaviour is instinctive too, but as they are more amenable to training than cats, they can be conditioned to overcome their instincts some of the time. However, their basic nature remains wolf-like, and as soon as regular human interaction ceases, or their provided food supply stops, they revert to type. But even with regular human interaction and food their instincts will sometimes still win through.35 years of cat ownership has led me to conclude that cats are averse to being trained in the same way, so the only way to prevent those cats which are prone to killing (not all cats are - we've had a couple of hippies who had no interest in killing anything) is to put them under house arrest.
But that wouldn't resolve the problem either. Grey squirrels, magpies, and other corvids predate chicks from nests. Sparrowhawks regularly take small birds which are feeding in our garden. It's just the way the natural food chain operates, and cats are part of that.
Smollet said:
Cats aren’t part of nature. They’re domestic pets
I think technically, in law at least you can’t own a cat and they count as wild animals unlike dogs. I believe this is why you are supposed to report it / help if you run over a dog but hitting a cat is same as squashing a rabbit.Mort7 said:
Cat behaviour is instinctive. Human behaviour is considerative. You can't accurately compare someone who makes a conscious decision to encourage their dog to kill a cat to satisfy their own sadistic desires with a cat which is hard-wired to behave in a certain way when confronted with specific stimuli.
^^This.Don't forget that the cat in the OP was probably expecting the dog to perhaps bark a bit & maybe try to clumsily try & play. I doubt it anticipated a full-on attack to the death. We're not arguing about nature here, we're talking about some scummy individual
, who clearly knew exactly what he was doing with his dog. And for what?? Kudos points on the estate? wker.There is no excuse for the guy setting his dog on the cat in the OP.
However, whilst the nature of a cat is to catch and main/kill whatever it can that is smaller than itself it’s the owners choice to keep the cat in the first place. If you own a cat and allow it to go outside it’s going to catch whatever it can, most owners don’t care or just turn a blind eye to it, but it’s still their choice to own the thing, and so cause the ensuing devastation on the local wildlife.
It’s not just “part of nature”, the animals the cat kills (often slowly) are killed as a direct result of the owners choice to own the cat.
A friend of ours who lives in the same village as I do used to see slow worms in her garden regularly, they came in from the area of overgrown land behind her house and she maintained an area where the grass was never cut and was rather overgrown. New neighbours moved in with 2 cats .... a month later no more slow worms.
However, whilst the nature of a cat is to catch and main/kill whatever it can that is smaller than itself it’s the owners choice to keep the cat in the first place. If you own a cat and allow it to go outside it’s going to catch whatever it can, most owners don’t care or just turn a blind eye to it, but it’s still their choice to own the thing, and so cause the ensuing devastation on the local wildlife.
It’s not just “part of nature”, the animals the cat kills (often slowly) are killed as a direct result of the owners choice to own the cat.
A friend of ours who lives in the same village as I do used to see slow worms in her garden regularly, they came in from the area of overgrown land behind her house and she maintained an area where the grass was never cut and was rather overgrown. New neighbours moved in with 2 cats .... a month later no more slow worms.
Edited by nute on Thursday 14th November 07:31
18 weeks jail time and a lifetime ban on keeping animals.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/amo...
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/amo...
Mort7 said:
But that wouldn't resolve the problem either. Grey squirrels, magpies, and other corvids predate chicks from nests. Sparrowhawks regularly take small birds which are feeding in our garden. It's just the way the natural food chain operates, and cats are part of that.
I hear what you say and agree that not all domestic cats are bent on killing wildlife, but to compare a domestic moggie to squirrels, magpies, etc. that have no choice other than to take prey for their food source is stretching it a bit. I would agree that some cats are 'wild' in the sense that they have been abandoned and have become feral but that is to do with ignorant owners who simply disown them once they or the kids get bored. We have dog wardens who round up stray dogs why not start rounding up known abandoned cats? Similarly if a dog owner allows their animal to stray, attack wildlife, and defecate everywhere there is sure to be a braying mob naming and shaming on faceslap before you can say felis catus!Mort7 said:
RemyMartin81D said:
Off topic but she'd probably enjoy this book
The Way of the Hare https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472909895/ref=cm_sw_r...
I did. It was very fascinating.
Thanks. Her birthday is coming up soon. Looks promising. The Way of the Hare https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472909895/ref=cm_sw_r...
I did. It was very fascinating.
pequod said:
I hear what you say and agree that not all domestic cats are bent on killing wildlife, but to compare a domestic moggie to squirrels, magpies, etc. that have no choice other than to take prey for their food source is stretching it a bit. I would agree that some cats are 'wild' in the sense that they have been abandoned and have become feral but that is to do with ignorant owners who simply disown them once they or the kids get bored. We have dog wardens who round up stray dogs why not start rounding up known abandoned cats? Similarly if a dog owner allows their animal to stray, attack wildlife, and defecate everywhere there is sure to be a braying mob naming and shaming on faceslap before you can say felis catus!
My own cat, R.I.P. was bloody useless at catching stuff, thankfully. The only 'trophy' he ever delivered was a worm. OTOH the neighbourhood cats where I now live are always hanging in my garden around trying to reduce the variety of wild birds that I feed. It upsets me that they catch the blackbirds in particular. All the owners need to do is put a little bell on the cat's collar. Might not help slow worms but would give the birds and voles etc a head start.
pequod said:
Of course, but as I said above, the end result is animals and birds being killed. Whether rare species of wildlife that visit our gardens are important is subjective but I am trying to do my bit to help the dwindling numbers, despite the local cat population.
Killing cats by training a dog or by any other method is, of course, abhorrent too. How do we stop domestic cats from decimating wildlife is the question that is yet to be addressed and whilst we continue to excuse this by saying that cat behaviour is instinctive doesn't wash, IMHO, otherwise one could argue that the wolf (now conditioned to be a domestic dog) killing whatever it can catch, whether trained or not, is also instinctive.
Dogs killing cats is pretty instinctive. In fact dogs killing pretty much anything non-dog, furry and smaller than them is pretty instinctive. I've never trained my dogs to kill anything, but somehow they've worked out that rabbits are tasty, and rats just need to be killed (not tasty). I have absolutely no doubt they would kill a cat if they were given half a chance. Killing cats by training a dog or by any other method is, of course, abhorrent too. How do we stop domestic cats from decimating wildlife is the question that is yet to be addressed and whilst we continue to excuse this by saying that cat behaviour is instinctive doesn't wash, IMHO, otherwise one could argue that the wolf (now conditioned to be a domestic dog) killing whatever it can catch, whether trained or not, is also instinctive.
rxe said:
pequod said:
Of course, but as I said above, the end result is animals and birds being killed. Whether rare species of wildlife that visit our gardens are important is subjective but I am trying to do my bit to help the dwindling numbers, despite the local cat population.
Killing cats by training a dog or by any other method is, of course, abhorrent too. How do we stop domestic cats from decimating wildlife is the question that is yet to be addressed and whilst we continue to excuse this by saying that cat behaviour is instinctive doesn't wash, IMHO, otherwise one could argue that the wolf (now conditioned to be a domestic dog) killing whatever it can catch, whether trained or not, is also instinctive.
Dogs killing cats is pretty instinctive. In fact dogs killing pretty much anything non-dog, furry and smaller than them is pretty instinctive. I've never trained my dogs to kill anything, but somehow they've worked out that rabbits are tasty, and rats just need to be killed (not tasty). I have absolutely no doubt they would kill a cat if they were given half a chance. Killing cats by training a dog or by any other method is, of course, abhorrent too. How do we stop domestic cats from decimating wildlife is the question that is yet to be addressed and whilst we continue to excuse this by saying that cat behaviour is instinctive doesn't wash, IMHO, otherwise one could argue that the wolf (now conditioned to be a domestic dog) killing whatever it can catch, whether trained or not, is also instinctive.
Farm cats are excellent at keeping down the rodent population but if you really need to clear a large nest of rats, a pair or two Jacks is your go to method of eradication!
Toyoda said:
RemyMartin81D said:
I sincerely hope someone batters this to death inside.
Bit excessive. It's not as if he's a murderer/rapist etc. to death inside.PH cat loving lynch mob out in force on this thread.
into a cage with a coupe of hungry & pissed off big cats.I agree with Remy's sentiment. I sincerely hope someone properly batters f
k out him - at the very least.TheJimi said:
Toyoda said:
RemyMartin81D said:
I sincerely hope someone batters this to death inside.
Bit excessive. It's not as if he's a murderer/rapist etc. to death inside.PH cat loving lynch mob out in force on this thread.
into a cage with a coupe of hungry & pissed off big cats.I agree with Remy's sentiment. I sincerely hope someone properly batters f
k out him - at the very least. and the cat he allowed to be ripped apart. You don’t have to be a ‘cat lover’ to find this sort of stuff abhorrent.
And anyone comparing a cat hunting another animal to someone deliberately setting an animal upon someone else’s pet to savage it, is a moron.
Edited by OriginalFDM on Thursday 14th November 16:26
Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff