A Victoria man was taking the dog he’d recently adopted from the SPCA for a walk in Fernwood Saturday when it attacked and killed a cat.
The dog’s owner was fined $300 and ordered to have the animal leashed and muzzled on all outings for the next five years.
The incident serves as a lesson for anyone who adopts a pet to heed warnings about whether the animal has issues with cats, small kids or anything else, said Ian Fraser, animal control officer with Victoria Animal Control.
The unidentified man adopted the boxer/dalmation/pitbull cross last week from the SPCA, and was walking the dog down a Fernwood street Saturday afternoon when they came upon a cat resting near the boulevard.
The dog pulled the owner toward the cat, said Fraser, but the cat didn’t move, since it lived amicably with big dogs.
“It probably felt it was safe,” Fraser said.
But the dog bit the cat, pinned it to the ground and killed it.
A number of witnesses reacted angrily toward the dog owner, said Fraser, who went to the man’s home and met the dog.
“It’s a lovely dog, very well socialized, but unfortunately it has a propensity to attack small animals,” he said.
The dog’s owner was extremely remorseful, Fraser said.
“He didn’t know enough about his dog because he’d only had it for a short period of time.”
The dog was assessed at the Victoria SPCA and found to be “far too interested in cats,” said spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk.
The papers that went along with the dog at adoption said the dog shouldn’t be near cats, she said.
“People have to be so careful when they don’t know how their dog is going to react,” she said.
“Dogs of any breed have the capacity to bite.”
