Today at the dog park an offlead GSD (rescued one month ago from a shelter) chased and caught a kitten...and killed it.

Now the long story:

All the dogs were off lead, and the owners were talking. I saw this GSD shoot off in a different direction so I knew she had seen something (everyone else was oblivious), and as I kept watchnig her I saw her chase and catch something (which I soon realised was a kitten - about 6-8weeks old) and shake it in her mouth. I screamed which finally got everyone's attention and eventually we reached the dog and got the very injured kitten. This is not the part of the story I have a problem with. Accidents happen. Neither do I think this dog should never be let off lead again. We have so many stray cats in Cyprus it would be almost impossoble to find a guaranteed cat-free zone to let dogs that chase cats off lead in. Neither do I think a dog can be reliably trained not to chase and kill cats if they have such a strong drive. Perhaps if the dog were mine she would be muzzled when off lead.

Anyway, this is not what bothered me most. So we rang the emergency vets and headed off. Me to hold the cat, someone to drive (and my Bella and the driver's own 2 dogs in the car) and the owner of the GSD who caught the cat followed behind. At the vets we decided to leave our dogs in the car. Had I not been so shaken up with the dying kitten I would have been thinking more clearly. Bella is fine with cats and kittens, and I could have brought her into the clinic, but as I said I was too shaken up to think.

So the person driving suggested we leave all 4 (his 2, my Bella and the GSD) dogs in his car and he left it running with aircondition on and the windows a bit open (even though it was dark by this time it is still warm which is why he left the ac on in the car). And this is what happened - 4 dogs loose in the car?!?!? And the drivers 2 dogs and Bella hardly know the GSD....As soon as we left the dogs in the car I realised what a dumb idea it was but we were in the clinic trying to save the kitten and the car had been locked, and the other 2 people thougth I was being ridiculous to worry about the dogs in the car.

NOthing happened, but so much could have happened with the dogs - sometimes I think people are just so damn self-assured etc that they forget dogs are animals.

Anyway, the vet managed to get an IV into the kitten - I was extremely impressed as the vein was tiny - but the kitten had intenral bleeding and spinal damage to the hind limbs. She passed away within 15 minutes. I expected this to be the outcome and I had hoped when the GSD had finally let go that the kittenwould be dead already

But I'm still shocked at how complacent some peole are, and how I WAS MADE TO FEEL LIKE THE for not wanting to leave 4 dogs that are not all that familiar with each other in a running car while we went into the vet clinic. I am guilty as I didn't act strongly enough to get my Bella out of the car...but in the adverse circumstances (to say the least) I can perhaps let myself off. But the other 2....thinking I was mad otu of my mind for even being worried in the first place.

I have the world's biggest headache and I'm very sad tonight. RIP poor little kitty. I'm sorry you had to spend almost an hour suffering until you passed away. And for myself (and yes this is selfish) I am sorry for what I had to witness tonight.

But I'm home safe, my Bellaboo is fine..and tomorrow is another day.

What a horrible situation. poor kitten..
I dont think i would be thinking very clearly either if it was me, maybe the other owners were not behaving as usual either?? Even a large dog that just wanted to play could easily kill an 8wk old kitten if it was too rough. At least it didnt suffer for long..

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SUMMER...JUST SAY NO!

I love my furkids.
dogs-Adam, Hannah, Heidi.
cats-Banjo, Bess, Eric, Tootsie, Blossom, Gracie.
Syrian Hamster-Inigo Montoya.
Rats-Ezri, Audrid, Emony.
Corn Snake- Kiora.
Kenyan Sand Boa- Kushti.

RIP- Winter, Autumn, Leela, Spring, Gandalf, Summer,Jet, Pip, Moo, Lilac, Wild Thing, Patrick, Frisbee, Echo.

Dont be to hard on yourself, I think you were alot calmer than I would have been Im glad Bella is ok.

RIP little paws x

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All my children have paws!

It is horrible
I can say at least for one of the owners that he was thinking as himself. He is notorious for saying "they're only playing" when dogs are being very aggressive towards each other and in occasions this has even led to bites. I don't know but he doesn't seem to realised dogs can do harm to one another.

Anyway, sorry about my longwinded post before. I'm just a bit overwhlemed myself.

I understand and am with you on this one, I can see how in the heat of the moment the decision was made to put the dogs in the aircon car but I know my dog in that situation would not have been happy in a car with other dogs he doesn't know, being a terrier if anything had started it could have been very nasty in an enclosed space.

Having said that nothing did happened and the dogs were all fine so please don't dwell on the what ifs and give Bella a big hug for being a good dog.

Rest in peace little kitty and well done you for doing the best in a bad situation x

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I held Nelson when he was pts. I have held both Nelson and now I do the same for Bella when for blood tests, injections etc. I am not really very squeamish....I watched the vet digging in Bella's paw for a grass seed without any issues...

but to see a totally out of control situation with a kitten being shaken in a dog's mouth is just totally different. I was so praying the kitten would be dead, I really was. Because this was immense suffering and I also didn't know how much damage had been done to the poor thing. Poor little thing. She was so sweet too.

The worst was when she suddenly started panicking when she had previously been lying calmly, and then she coughed up blood. Her eyes just looked so petrified. The vet was about to pts at this point, but her heart just stopped on its own.

This really has not been a good evening...but I am grateful as I look down at Bella lying at my feet, that at least my 'family' is well.

Oh mate sending you both a big hug xxx

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All my children have paws!

thank you for understanding

What a horrible night for you. And I'm so sorry for that poor kitten. But I really think you handled things pretty well given the situation.

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[SIGPIC][SIGPIC]

Thanks. Yes, that poor little kitten. I can't stop thinking about her. It all happened so fast. At least she is at peace now.