What an horrible experience I had today. I went on a bike ride with my dog.
I always have my dog in a leash. It's a Siberian Husky and she likes to
hunt.

I often pass an area where there are many cats. There are some houses there
where a few kids live. They often ask me if they can pet my dog. I often
decline because of all the cats in the area. Today they asked again and I
let them. Then a little kitten comes. The kitten hasn't learned to fear dogs
yet and runs straight into my dogs mouth.

I had my dog right beside me. My dog takes the cat into her mouth and when
she let go the cat is almost dead. The kids saw this and began to scream and
cry.

In all an horrible experience.

Can I be held responsible?

"diddy" wrote in message
...
in thread m: "Just me"
Of course not. Your dog was on leash. The kitten wasn't kept safe, by
being kept inside. What if that same kitten ran out on the road and got
hit
by a car? Is the car liable? NO! If you value your pets, you keep themn
inside or on a leash or in a fence that will contain them. Unfortunately
for that kitten, his owners didn't do that. It them to blame.

Thank you for your support. I always keep my dog in a leash beacuse I know
if I do not and she attack something I've to let her goto eternal sleep.
It's no fun when these things happens cause I've done my best to prevent my
dog from attacking other animals. I know other people often dislike
dog-owners because many aren't responsible pet-owners. I hope the owners of
the cat will not blame me and that they'll see that it's not my fault.

Regards
Torkel

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 10:24:33 GMT Just me whittled these words:
I had my dog right beside me. My dog takes the cat into her mouth and when
she let go the cat is almost dead. The kids saw this and began to scream and
cry.

In all an horrible experience.

Can I be held responsible?

Yes, you can be held responsible. The purpose of requiring that a dog be
on leash is to see that the dog is under control. In this case your dog
was not under control or the incident would not have occurred. Your
responsiblity is to be aware of what is going on arround you and take
steps to prevent your dog from harming other people's property. WHile
your dog was being what he is, that does NOT mean you have no
responsiblity here.

The kitten too was behaving normally. And unlike your dog I'll bet there
is no leash law for cats. So the cat was legally in public, and you were
in public. What your dog did was perfectly normal, but you did know of the
risk, you said so. Even normal behavior like this can be trained to not
occur when you are present. It is up to you to prevent your dog from
acting in ways that will harm other people's property. Let's say it was
not a kitten that went up to your dog but a child's ball that rolled
within range and your dog bit and popped the ball. You would be
responsible for the damage to the property.

Of course the people should keep their cats out of danger. Hopefully you
do not live in a community that will lable your dog a vicious dog for this
incident. In my community that is exactly what would happen. You would
be required to put up signs that you have a vicious dog, and get extra
insurance, have your property inspected to ensure it can secure the dog
and the dog would not be allowed out without a muzzle.

Look, I understand that it was within the nature of your dog. And if the
kitten had come onto your property there would be no issue here. But the
fact is you know your dog posed a risk and you failed to prevent the
occurrence. And that is how breed bans are born. Huskies are often
included in breed bans becausse frankly no one cares whether there is a
difference between a dog that kills cats, one that kills other dogs, and
one that injures people. They don't want to see things they care about
attacked by someone's dog.

Accustom your dog to a muzzle as clearly he can't control himself with you
right beside him.

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/dogplayshop.htm

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 06:00:07 -0500 diddy whittled these words:



Of course not. Your dog was on leash. The kitten wasn't kept safe, by

In every state I am aware of there is strict liability for the behavior of
dogs.

being kept inside. What if that same kitten ran out on the road and got hit
by a car? Is the car liable? NO!

The driver of the car may or may not be liable depending upon the ablilty
of the driver to have prevented the incident. Unlike dogs there is
usually not strict liability for incidents involving cars. For dogs the
level of care used to prevent the problem is irrelevant (usually) as to
legal liability for damage to person's or property. That is not the case
with regard to motor vehicle operation. If the driver of the care acted
carelessly in preventing the incident then the driver of the car could
indeed be held responsible. In this case it is comparable to knowing that
the car has bad brakes. The driver could have fixed the brakes and
prevented the incident. Here the dog owner knew his dog was a risk and a
muzzle would have prevented the incident. Unlike the car driver the dog
owner's knowledge of what he could have or should have done is irrelevant
to legal liability. Legal liabilty has nothing to do with moral or
ethical failure.

If you value your pets, you keep themn
inside or on a leash or in a fence that will contain them. Unfortunately
for that kitten, his owners didn't do that. It them to blame.


They share the blame to be sure. But that does not absolve the dog woner
of responsiblity.

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/dogplayshop.htm

wrote in message ...
On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 10:24:33 GMT Just me
whittled these words:

Yes, you can be held responsible. The purpose of requiring that a dog be
on leash is to see that the dog is under control. In this case your dog
was not under control or the incident would not have occurred. Your
responsiblity is to be aware of what is going on arround you and take
steps to prevent your dog from harming other people's property. WHile
your dog was being what he is, that does NOT mean you have no
responsiblity here.

The kitten too was behaving normally. And unlike your dog I'll bet there
is no leash law for cats. So the cat was legally in public, and you were
in public. What your dog did was perfectly normal, but you did know of the
risk, you said so. Even normal behavior like this can be trained to not
occur when you are present. It is up to you to prevent your dog from
acting in ways that will harm other people's property. Let's say it was
not a kitten that went up to your dog but a child's ball that rolled
within range and your dog bit and popped the ball. You would be
responsible for the damage to the property.

Of course the people should keep their cats out of danger. Hopefully you
do not live in a community that will lable your dog a vicious dog for this
incident. In my community that is exactly what would happen. You would
be required to put up signs that you have a vicious dog, and get extra
insurance, have your property inspected to ensure it can secure the dog
and the dog would not be allowed out without a muzzle.

Look, I understand that it was within the nature of your dog. And if the
kitten had come onto your property there would be no issue here. But the
fact is you know your dog posed a risk and you failed to prevent the
occurrence. And that is how breed bans are born. Huskies are often
included in breed bans becausse frankly no one cares whether there is a
difference between a dog that kills cats, one that kills other dogs, and
one that injures people. They don't want to see things they care about
attacked by someone's dog.

Accustom your dog to a muzzle as clearly he can't control himself with you
right beside him.

The only reason why this happend was because I didn't say no to the kids
when they asked to pet my dog. Ususally I bike right thru the area and if I
had done that this time too this accident would have been prevented.

The kitten came running towards the kids. It ran towards us from behind and
then up along me. It happend very fast. I know episodes like this can happen
and I will not bike thru that area anymore.

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 17:39:13 GMT Just me whittled these words:

The only reason why this happend was because I didn't say no to the kids
when they asked to pet my dog. Ususally I bike right thru the area and if I
had done that this time too this accident would have been prevented.

The kitten came running towards the kids. It ran towards us from behind and
then up along me. It happend very fast. I know episodes like this can happen
and I will not bike thru that area anymore.

Exactly. Unintended things happen. That doesn't make us bad, and it
doesn't make your dog "bad." But when we cause damage, even by accident,
we are bound to take responsiblity for it. You are honest in admitting
you knew there was a risk in stopping. I appreciate that. The thing is
that your dog is equally likely to grab a small dog that comes into his
range, even a puppy. I could describe dozens of scenarios where your
dog's natural instincts could get you and him into trouble. Even, as with
this time, with him on leash. You understand that he has those instincts.
Be fair to him and prevent him from doing something that will get him
death by needle. Being surprised by the appearance of something he wants
to kill just isn't sufficient excuse, now that you know he will.



--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/dogplayshop.htm