One of my neighbours told me yesterday that the young lad a couple of doors away was encouraging my cat over then calling his Staffie over.  Now this staff is people friendly but not ever so dog friendly and I can imagine, being a terrier and not used to cats, it would quite possibly attack my cat with not very nice results.  The problem being my cats arent really scared of dogs and most of the neighbourhood dogs are scared of my cats because they are so bulshy and follow dogs on their walks :rolleyes:

I want to have a word with this lads mother, so what I want to know is, what if the dog did attack my cat could I get it seized under the DDA or does this only apply to people ?  I just really want some ammunition to threaten this lad with to make him realise what could happen if his dog did attack my cat but obviously I dont want to lie

Claire :)
Any suggestions ?

Think under DDA, it has to be YOU that has reason to be afraid that YOU are going to attacked. There was a court case quite a while ago  (not sure if it was DDA), but anyway, some dog had killed a cat & the cat's owner tried to get the dog destroyed. The judge threw it out because he said chasing cats was what dogs do.
However, if his Staffie isn't on a lead on a public highway, you could say he could be done for having a dog out of control. If his dog chased your cat onto a busy road, you could say if he caused an accident he could be liable for £100000 worht of damages - ask him if he has insurance. Can't you just sound as if you know what you're talking about & quote some legal-sounding gobbledegook at them, just so they know that you intend to take it further if something did happen? He can't be very intelligent if he does that kind of thing for amusement so he may well believe you!

Good thinking, I will spout a complete load of nonsense at him and make it sound intelligent I think he will probably believe me :rolleyes:

It just makes me wish that my cats werent so damn friendly :(

You'd have to go do some research but I can tell you that when I had the parrots in Aviaries we could do nothing legally to prevent the local cats harrassing or even killing our parrots. As I understand it from those days cats are classed as wild animals under the law and as such are protected from deliberate harm, I know of some parrot owners who had to replace a cat and pay a large fine in  court when the parrot managed to bite the cat on their aviary roof causing enough damage that it had to be pts.

I believe cats are still regarded as wild animals because they are allowed to roam wherever they want, which must be irritating for some, especially bird owners. 

Changing the subject slightly, im looking after my parents parrots at the moment and the cats are constantly dangling their paws through the bars of the cage, I had better be careful in case they do get bitten they have such nasty bites - and I know that from experience

i have 2 cats the same as you. they have grown up with dogs,if a dog attemps to chase them they will stand their ground and have a go.but it makes you wonder. maybe if your cat stood it's ground the dog will back away,as i know this is what happens with mine. it shock's the dog because the cats not running away.
my cat rules my dog,he knows not to mess even though she couldn't hurt him if she tried.

Deleted as I put it on wrong topic
                                                                      Anne

My cats do stand their ground and thats what im worried about, I know most dogs will back off when they stand their ground (apart from my daft pup :rolleyes: ) but im worried they wont run and this dog (having Terrier bravery) will just go for them with them not expecting it.  Hopefully they are already scared of this dog because it does bark quite a lot.

Cats are protected by Law.  Its an offence to illtreat or even frighten one intentionally ;)   click the link for more info :D 

http://www.yorkcats.org.uk/catlaw.htm

If he's encouraging his dog to chase/attack then he will be in trouble if it can be proved.  Just a thought tho - make sure for yourself that he is doing what you have been told, could cause problems if someones just stirring (from this you can tell what our neighbours are like ;) )

Hope this helps
regards
Dill

hmm I must admit I have some neighbours who like to stir trouble up, especially when it is to do with me because I am one of the few in my street that own my house (and im only 26, single and female )  This girl seems ok  (although her father is one of the stirers !) I think I might let it go this time and do a bit of curtain twitching to keep an eye out at the weekends when the little lout has nothing better to do :rolleyes:

edit to say - thanks for the link, that website could come in useful :)

Both my staffs chase my cats but when the cats have had enough they soon tell the dogs - and the dogs back off pdq!

Glad to help Blondbird :)  I hope it turns out ok, don't blame you for being concerned, it can be a wierd world :rolleyes:

Regards
Dill