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Beagles/Beagle Killing a Cat

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Expert: - 12/2/2008


Question
why would my 6 year old fixed male beagle kill a stray kitten when he was raised and still gets along with my cat.  I also have 3 other beagles no problem

Answer
I can imagine how distressing this incident was! I am wondering if you were present when it happened to give me details of what happened that might lend a clue to his behavior. I CAN tell you that beagles have a strong prey instinct and some more so than others.They have an inherent instinct to chase prey. Is it possible that he went after it and then was playing with it and killed it accidently? It would seem like being a kitten it would have tried to fight back which is sometimes enough to deter them. I have a female beagle however who has caught birds and mice and killed them. I don't know that she intended to kill them, more like catch them and then (not being trained in the field) hurt them when she put them in her mouth. A field beagle would have been trained to carry them with a very soft bite grip and not damage them. If you have any more details please write me again.....

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Have4Paws

Expertise

I am happy to answer BEAGLE BREED SPECIFIC behavioral questions. Please DO NOT ask CRATE TRAINING OR MEDICAL questions! I am not a vet nor an expert in the use of crates.

Experience

I currently have one beagle, a male age 5, an 12 month old Pit Bull, and a 8 year old min. poodle. I have had to let go of three of my dogs, 2 beagles and 1 whippet/rat terrier mix in the past 5 years, most recently my whippet mix. The two beagles lived to 15 and the whippet mix to 13.5, it has been hard to say goodbye to them. I have done rescue work on and off for years as well as fund-raising for the local animal shelter. I worked for a dog magazine in the past (Southern California Dog Magazine). Being a psychotherapist has encouraged me to do in depth studying of animal behavior as well. I have worked with many people to help curb undesirable behaviors in their dogs (or them!) or to form good behaviors. My life is devoted to and surrounded by my dogs........The picture you see here is Zeppelin but we also call him the "miracle dog". He was hit by a car April 2010 while out with the dog walker and had very serious injuries... 4 surgeries and $17,000 later my boy is whole again and back to loving life. He is so special to me and he weathered a lot of pain and trauma yet is still the sweet boy he always was! I also work to stop Breed Specific Legislation and help to get pit bulls adopted.

Organizations
HSUS, PETA, SPCA DONT SHOP...ADOPT!!

Publications
Dog Fancy

Education/Credentials
I am a Marriage and Family Therapist licensed in the state of CA and am also credentialed as a Certified Addiction Treatment Specialist

Awards and Honors
Honored by the Agoura Animal Shelter for my volunteer work.

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