Happy Monday everyone!!

So yesterday my son was playing basketball outside, and the ball bounced out into the street. He thought for a second he could run out to the street to grab the ball while leaving the gate open not thinking that the dogs would escape...boy was he wrong! That's all it took was a split second for them to take off.
As I walked out of my yard I saw the neighbor down the street starting to yell at my son saying that she would call the cops if my dogs ever kill her cat. My dogs wouldn't go into her yard as it's closed all the time. I do see her cat walking around in her yard. Anyways I started thinking...what would happen if my dogs did get a hold of her cat or another neighbors...my street is crawling with felines..strays and all.

She also told my son that my dogs tried to kill her next door neighbors cat too! Well their yard is open...no fencing at all. I'm not gonna lie my dogs will bolt as soon as that gate opens. And we've been having to lock them in the back before we can pull in or out.

My question is...if her cat gets out of her yard, and if my dogs happen to escape and "kill" her cat....what could she do? Could she sue me?...I mean if her cat gets out and is loose on the street...wouldn't it be her fault too?

I just tried looking it up and yes you can be sued for quite a bit of money. You would be responsible for replacing the cat if it was killed, medical bills if the cat was just hurt, loss wages, and blah blah blah fees. Now as for her getting your dog killed (eye for eye) I can't find anything about that. I can't even find that in my own state.

A FYI
Have you seen this story about Chloe and Rocco.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Help-save-Chloe-Rocco/441414362617181?hc_location=stream

Amy,

Thanks for checking that for me. Now I wonder if they did kill her cat or another without anyone seeing it...could I still be blamed for it?

Linda,

Thank you so much for posting that. I've never seen this post. I don't have a facebook. It's kinda scary....how much my two look just like those two. I just have to keep an eye on my two and make sure they are always tied up when we leave.

I think someone has to see it or see your dog is cover in blood or something like that..... I think it is impossible to blame you for something they never saw.

I totally forgot about Chloe and Rocco thing. But poor things. I really do hope they come back home

Ya, i'm just very nervous now....there's also a lot of loose pitbulls around my area...I was just thinking what if one of them attack her cat and she blames my dogs...i don't know now...maybe I'm just over thinking it.

I was about to post the Chloe link but looks like Linda beat me to it, Yea just be extra careful we don't want another dog going through what Chloe and her family is going through

Hmm this might be a crazy idea, but if you're worried about a pit bull killing your neighbor's cat and having them blame it on you then maybe you could keep a diary or a log.... You could record when your huskies leave the house, how long they're outside each day and at what times, exactly how much time you've left them alone per day, etc. You can also throw in a few pictures for more physical evidence. I know this is a really extreme method that can get overwhelming very fast, but it's at least a temporary fix to the situation. For example, say that your neighbor's cat died at 3pm tomorrow (I hope not!) and she tried to blame you. Yet you have a log and a photo both stating that your husky was inside playing with your kid at that time. It's not the best evidence in the world but it should suffice for the time being.

I don't know how old your huskies are but maybe if they're young enough you could try to socialize them with cats for a long term fix (I'm probably shooting myself in the foot for saying this though, I'm by no stretch of the imagination knowledgeable on huskies >.< ) If they have no desire to kill a cat and you can prove that to you neighbor then they might leave you alone...

I hope that I was of some assistance and my post wasn't just some random ramblings. I plan on possibly going to law school, so maybe 10-12 years down the road you can catch me fighting for cases like Chloe and Rocco. Anyways I hope I helped in some way!

Aidan-thanks for the advice...I might just have to do that. I just don't want something to happen to her cat then have her blame it on me. Funny thing is I've never seen her before....i've only seen her room mate.When I had the puppy she once got out too, and the room mate was the one who walked her back to my yard and said we should have a puppy play date! hmmm....I think their crazy! hahaha

If you leave your cat outside, and it gets killed...........to freaking bad. I'm sorry but the moment you remove human supervision your pet is a wild animal. I had to listen to people whine all the time when I live in Washington that the hawks were picking up outside cats and that was a "big problem"...........no its not, take your damn cat inside.

Simon-see that's where i'm confused....it would be as much as her fault as mine...if her cat was randomly walking the streets and my dogs happen to chase it. I know I would be held responsible if my dogs went into her property, and got the cat...but if it's just walking around it becomes a walking target...not only for my dogs but any. Just like if my dogs are out loose and they get attacked by other dogs it would be my fault.

Agreed, however a lot of people tend to overreact. They refuse to take even a little bit of the responsibility or blame like a grown person should and instead do the easy thing by blaming someone else. Which of course is pretty lame.