Unregistered huskie & Kelpie cross in neighbour's rear yard
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Our enclosed garden
Another view of our garden looking out from the patio where the dogs trapped Cleo
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Our beloved Cleo in the in-tray
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See post: Cleopatra & The In Tray
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We arrived home from a family dinner to find our beautiful Burmese cat, Cleo, mauled to death by two of our neighbour’s dogs. In the past, the dogs have dug many holes from under their side of the adjoining fence. We have constantly filled the holes in and blocked them off with rocks. There is only one place that the dogs were able to dig, and that was a very small patch near our garden composting bin. All the rest of the fence line is blocked off with a thick growth of ice plant and rocks. However this day, when we were out, the dogs dug a huge hole, and cornered our cat who had no escape from the patio in which she was sleeping in her cane chair. We could clearly see what had happened by the state of the patio. We are devastated. Cleo, our companion of 12 years, was in superb condition.
We immediately reported the incident to the police and to the local council, neither of whom would take any action. We considered the dogs to be aggressive and dangerous and were concerned for the welfare of our grandchildren who often play on the patio. In our experience, dogs such as these become killer dogs once they have killed an animal and progress from there to babies and children if given the chance.
We finally got action from the Council after my son rang their office and demanded to speak to the person in charge of dog legislation. My partner and I were too distressed to take the case up ourselves. The council came to our house the following day and inspected the large hole under the fence, but told us they could not take the dogs to the pound until the owners were home; access to the property had to be granted by the owners. This, I could see, was going to be a long, drawn out affair!
The next morning at 9.20 am the dogs dug another hole under the fence and began to jump up against the glass doors of our house. The owner had blocked up the first hole with a car wheel and bricks. I rang the council and twenty minutes later they arrived to catch the dogs. They managed to get a collar and leash on the Kelpie cross, but the huskie was another matter. It took several minutes for both of the officers to wrestle and grab the huskie’s neck with a shepherd’s crook, and then to secure a collar. The owners were home but would not answer the door. Apparently the owner remarked to the officers later that he didn’t know what all the fuss was about!
The Council has told us that if the owner admits his dogs killed Cleo, the dogs will be put down immediately. Otherwise, the Council will proceed to take the case to court and in 90% of cases, the judge rules that the dogs must be euthanised. We have taken many photos of the scene and these will be used in court if necessary. The scene where our beloved pet was killed, shows plainly the struggle she put up and how much she must have suffered. She did not have a chance with these two dogs. The owner is insisting it wasn’t his dogs! “They wouldn’t hurt anyone, they would lick them to death”. I can’t count how many times I have heard dog owners say this. They don’t get it do they?
The internet is full of instances where dogs have mauled babies, children and small pets. Not long ago two pet dogs in Australia took their owners’ new born baby out of its crib, ran out of the house with it, and ate it on the family’s front lawn. These were well cared for and loved pet dogs. In recent years in Australia and New Zealand, scores of young children have been maimed by pet dogs, not to mention adults. One girl I remember, had her face torn off while playing in a playground. When are councils going to bring in by-laws which make it illegal to keep large dogs in built up areas? We often walk around the conservation wetlands near our home, where there is much wild life in residence. We see owners letting their dogs run into the lakes and chase the swans, ducks and herons, to name a few. All dogs are required by law to be on leashes. Clearly, by-laws are not being enforced.
The dogs' entry hole on the neighbour's side of the fence. He has since blocked it off with a car tyre and bricks. The second hole dug by the dogs the following morning is on the right beside the two bricks.
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Ode To Cleopatra (1998-2011)
Oh Cleo, how we loved your magical, comic ways,
How you lighted up our every, ordinary days,
Those intense, ebony eyes, so wicked, yet so wise,
The more intense and sorrowful, thus made your demise.
Long summer days in our garden paradise, did we lie
You seemingly asleep amid the catnip and the rose,
Paul and I, the garden seat nearby, did we occupy;
To chat and muse; you one ear, one eye, unclosed.
We knew, ourselves, you listened to all we might say.
Perhaps even chuckled ‘ah, mere mortals are they’.
‘I, Cleopatra number eight, have come from Cleopatras one to seven’,
To guide you around this earthly home and garden heaven’.
Many days as in our garden we worked; with snips and spades,
Cleo supervised, scrutinised; like mistress she was, to slaves,
Never once did she, our plants or plans to wreck,
Instead nudged insects off; dropped at our feet to inspect.
Tiny swamp frogs, even, carried gently in her mouth,
So we could take them across further south,
To the wetlands, not far from our happy home,
No longer fodder for ravens, the sky they do roam.
So fit, so agile, so clever, was our Cleo, believe!
Not we! Not she! To think of herself a mere cat.
There was no doubt in her mind, she decided that!
For she knew her feline looks, animals and humans, deceived.
What other mortal enemy, so inclined, to be a friend of birds? Why?
To watch them flit from tree to tree, to enjoy their antics, on the wing,
Upon the ground, digging seeds, their little beaks poking any little thing,
Cleo under wattle hides, the watched, unaware, what lurks nearby.
Human, Cleo was for sure, but not in our likeness, oh no,
More temple goddess; and we all and sundry would know,
To beware her magic and her schemes, she used to pull her needs,
From us mere mortals; we meet with guile and with queenly pleas.
At night, when comes time to retire, onto our bed, Cleo does leap
Not for her the cat bed so lowly; where humans repose, does she aspire to sleep.
Not little a space, but fully a third, she does examine slowly,
A comfortable spot she pat-a-foots to claim, for the night’s keep.
No moggy, in our home, while Cleo, there, reigned supreme.
There can be no mistake, in her life, she was a queen.
The after-life, she now will journey, another body to possess,
But only regal bones she would inhabit; for her, nothing less.
We buried her in a tomb so fine, with her trinkets loved the best;
Ping pong balls; such footwork had she upon the tile floor,
Beckham himself, he would envy; a shame there will be no contest.
She must go now to contemplate what life next; far away to Luxor.
Our hearts are broken, the way she died; no queen thus deserves,
But Cleo, don’t despair, for we know with us, you are still here.
Not physical, we sadly know, but in spirit, everywhere to preserve,
In garden and in home; we feel your presence everywhere.
The ghastly hounds who ripped our Cleo’s life asunder
We have dealt with them, our paradise they plundered.
But no more they will roam on the garden she loved so.
She rests in peace now, in “Cleo’s Garden” amid the catnip and the rose.
-Anne Frandi-Coory
