Port Kembla couple's heartache for cat killed by escaped dogs

Selen and Ozgur adopted the cat from a shelter after immigrating to Australia 12 years ago. They named her Sydney, after their new home city.

They made a habit of leaving their back door open when they lived in Sydney and after moving to the Illawarra. The door was open on Thursday morning when, with her husband working interstate, Selen went out for 30 minutes to buy groceries.

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She returned to find two large dogs in her front room. After looking at photographs online she believes they were Rhodesian Ridgebacks, possibly crossed with pitbulls. The dogs had urinated in the house and ran when they saw her.

Selen ran through the house and found Sydney lying on the back lawn. The couple believe the cat was shaken to death as her body wasn't bleeding, just lifeless.

"She was still warm," Selen said. "I didn't know if she was dead or not. I was a bit off. I remember I just asked people to take me to the [veterinary] hospital emergency. They said, 'she's dead'."

Selen was so distressed a neighbour called an ambulance for her. She phone her husband, telling him to fly home.

"She was screaming - 'they killed our baby, they killed our baby, you have to come'," Ozgur said.

The couple later discovered the dogs had dug a hole to enter their yard. One ran away after the attack; the other was collected by a man. The dogs' owner remains a mystery to the couple; five days on, they told the Mercury they had received no explanation or apology.

They found scratch marks on the floor and at least seven whole cat claws in their front room - signs of their cat's desperate final struggle, they believe.

"I couldn't take care of her," Selen said. "I couldn't save her life. I'm trying to [think of] the good memories, still. Today I'm better but since then the only thing I can see is her body on the floor."

The couple say the incident is the second involving the dogs in the past two years. The Mercury understands an elderly neighbour suffered a medical emergency brought on by the stress of having the dogs jump his fence and attack his own dogs.

But a spokeswoman for Wollongong City Council said that matter was never reported, therefore the owner of the escaped dogs was not required to do anything about the animals.

"Council is also aware that one of the dogs involved in the March 4 incident is alleged to have been involved in a previous incident, however no action was able to be taken at that time as no formal statement was provided. There is no recorded history of previous issues surrounding the second dog.

"At present, neither dogs have any dangerous, menacing or nuisance orders placed on them."

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Selen and Ozgur were expecting a council ranger to take their statements on Monday, but the appointment was postponed. They say they are frustrated to learn it could take up to six months for local authorities to investigate the matter and act.

Ozgur and Selen are soon moving out of the property for unrelated reasons. But they say a newborn baby is part of the family that is about to move in, and that this should motivate authorities to act.

"I really want him [the dogs' owner] to be charged with something," Selen sid. "We are animal-lovers. Putting the dogs down - he won't understand anything. But I want him to be charged, to understand he's guilty".

The council spokeswoman said enforcement action took 2-3 months in most cases, "if sufficient evidence is obtained".

"Council's investigations into the alleged attack on March 4 are continuing."

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