Cat attacked me and my dog – legality?

[mpyre101]

This post is going to be in 2 parts – Part1 is the story as I write down this fresh memory, and Part2 is questions about pet law and “attack” law.

Part1 – Story
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I’m still so surprised. I was walking my dog on 39th off of Thistle, beautiful day, delightful walk. I see a pair of cats in a yard with an open chainlink fence, so we angle out toward the street to give them plenty of space. Then suddenly, one of the cats attacks the other then turns and charges out of its yard through the gate and attacks my dog. While my dog cries a horrible cry I’ve never heard before I try to pull her away and in to the street to get away but the cat starts charging again. I stomped my foot to try to scare it away and it hesitates and hisses. Moments later we’ve run to the other side of the street and I’m looking my dog over to make sure she’s ok. My dog is under 30lbs and is afraid of everything. She just looks so sad and confused, blood on her nose. I hope she doesnt develop reactivity to other animals as a result of this.
The across the street neighbors have now come out of their house after hearing my dogs cries and ask if everything is alright. I was worried they would think my dog started something but they knew the scoop already. They tell me that this particular cat has been charging and attacking dogs for some time now. They’ve seen it time and time again and try to warn people to stay away from this house.

Part2 – What Next?
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So many things had to go wrong for this to happen. Is this cat getting old and losing its mind? It attacked its friend and then us, it was clearly over threshold. Why are the cats left outside and stationed near the gate? Why is the chainlink gate left all the way open? Why are these cats still allowed outside after repeated attacks of passerbys?

Can anyone educate me on cat pet laws? If the attacker were a dog instead of a cat, this would be a problem that most people would agree needs a solution – Like making sure the pet has a space, maybe in the backyard, where it can feel safe and calm. But because the attacker is a cat, I’m not sure how to approach this. Is the owner legally obligated to keep an aggressive cat inside their property? Should this cat be on some kind of animal control record? I apologize if these questions sound harsh but I’m really unclear on what’s the right thing to do here.

Thanks
mpyre

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