LAWAI — A family is mourning the loss of their pet cat after it died following an attack by dogs. Michele Speegle said that sometime between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Thursday, her family was awakened by the sound of dogs
LAWAI — A family is mourning the loss of their pet cat after it died following an attack by dogs.
Michele Speegle said that sometime between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Thursday, her family was awakened by the sound of dogs outside. It is not unusual to hear dogs barking at night in the residential area, but not so close to the home.
By the time they were outside, a trail of fur and blood led to their Bubu, a silver-shaded baby doll Persian cat with bright green eyes just shy of 15 years old. Two or three small dogs came onto the front porch of her home, carried Bubu across the driveway, mauled it and left it covered in bite marks with a broken back, she said.
“Our driveway was covered with Bubu’s long white fur and blood,” Speegle said.
Bubu, severely injured, died shortly after the attack.
The cat lost a tooth and Speegle believes it was from biting one of the dogs. She hopes the owner will notice and know how it was injured.
“I want at least the Lawai area to know that these dogs are out there and have killed, and will likely kill again,” Speegle said. “I am not after compensation. I just do not want this to happen again.”
Speegle’s family was awakened by the attack.
Her 10-year-old grandson’s window overlooks the front and he witnessed the cat being carried away by dogs. Michele Speegle reached the window in time to see dogs running down Koloa Road near Horita Road and off to the side in that area.
She said they were small but scary in their viciousness. There is the occasional stray or a loose neighbor’s dog outside, but nothing like this.
“We have never had a pack of dogs come through,” she said. “These dogs came up and got him for some reason.”
The pack mentality can take over with a group of dogs, said Penny Cistaro, Kauai Humane Society executive director. The breed of dogs also has something to do with their high or low prey drive.
“Terriers, whippets, and some other dogs have a higher prey drive than others,” Cistaro said.
The situation is difficult to assess without knowing the dogs or what was happening with them prior to the attack, she said.
Kauai has a leash law, and cats, as well as dogs, should be confined or indoors, especially at night, she added. Cats are prey for dogs that like to chase anything that moves.
“If you see dogs running at large, then call the Humane Society,” Cistaro said.
Bubu was an indoor cat but liked to stay outside since the death of a daughter cat four years ago. He would sleep on the spot where they buried it in the front yard near the shrubbery-lined entrance.
“He stayed right on the porch and greeted clients and anyone who came to the door,” she said. “He was just the friendliest cat you could ever imagine.”
