Jerry's Questions Wrote:
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> I have a horde of cats roaming around my
> neighborhood. Most, if not all, have tags and
> belong to someone in the neighborhood. Is there a
> law against allowing your cat to roam wherever?
> Seems like that's what you would do on the farm,
> but this is the suburbs. The only time it is a
> problem, really, is when dogs in their own yards
> chase and attack the cats. If my dog killed the
> neighbors cat in my yard, am I liable? If my dog
> gets loose from my yard and kills the neighbor's
> cat any place in the neighborhood, am I liable?
You are liable if your dog attacks the cat on the owner's property, and most likely elsewhere. However, if it's within your own property, then I can't imagine how you'd be held liable, so long as you can prove that your dog was completely kept within the confines of your yard. My one neighbor's dog got out a few years back, and killed my other neighbor's cat. The cat wasn't doing anything but laying next to some plants and sunning itself in its own yard, when the dog attacked it and broke its back. The husband/father had to drive it to the vet, with the cat screaming in pain the whole way there (Where they put it to sleep). The victims didn't press charges though, and for some reason the dog wasn't punished (It wasn't even registered as a "Dangerous Dog"). They haven't let the dog get loose since then, though.
Btw, I won't even let my dog attack a squirrel, despite the fact that it drives my JRT nuts. Basically, so long as I feed them, they have no right killing other animals (Unless it's in self-defense). That's my view anyhow.
Here, if you need any proof about "liability" when your dog runs loose:
http://www.virginia.gov/vdacs_dd/public/cgi-bin/public.cgi?sysdogno=194&submit=detail
Quote
Trial Docket Info:
Acts resulting in the dog being declared dangerous: Attacked and killed a cat while running loose
Docket Number: GC07246301-00
Parties: Lana Cueto
Court: Fairfax County General District Court
Judge: Nordlund
Adjudication Date: 11/30/07
Requirements imposed on owner by judge: All provisions as required by law.
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"And if any women or children get their legs torn off, or faces caved in, well, it's tough shit for them." -2LT. Bert Stiles, 505th, 339th (On Berlin Bombardier Mission, 1944).