Family devastated by fatal dog attack on beloved cat

A family has been left devastated after their much-loved 18-year-old cat was killed in an attack by two large Doberman dogs in Stalybridge on Saturday, 31st October.

Suzy, a black-and-white rescue cat, was attacked in Breckland Close after settling down to sleep under a bush in a neighbour’s garden. Her owner, Julian Davidson, said he had only just let her outside when the dogs came running around the corner at full speed.  

“They just saw her and within three seconds they’d killed her,” he said.

A young couple from nearby Church Bank ran to alert Julian to what had happened. He described the woman as being in shock and the man as visibly distressed.  

Julian praised the female neighbour who put herself between the dogs and Suzy to prevent them from attacking the cat further, despite her having already been killed. He described the woman as “incredibly brave”.  

They managed to drive the dogs away. However, Julian said they returned and were “violently out of control”. He said the dogs were making a great deal of noise and also challenged him on his own driveway.  

Police attended the scene, and an officer initially tried to get the dogs into the back of a van but was unable to manage it alone. The dogs were not wearing collars. The area was cordoned off to keep people away from danger, and the officer called for assistance from the police dog unit.  

Julian said the dogs were eventually cornered at the top of the close, although he did not see exactly what happened.  

He was given an incident number and advised to contact police for an update on whether any further action would be taken. He also asked whether the dogs had been checked for microchips so their owner can be identified and it can be established whether they had escaped or been let out.  

We contacted Greater Manchester Police and a spokesperson told us:  

“At around 4.45pm on Saturday 31st October, officers responded to a report of dogs being dangerously out of control on Breckland Close, Stalybridge.  

“The dogs were contained and shortly after returned to their owner. Sadly, a cat is believed to have been fatally injured by one of the dogs.  

“Anyone with any further information should contact police via 101 or gmp.police.uk, quoting log 2507 of 31/10/26”.

Having since seen CCTV footage of the incident, Julian said he believed there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent the attack, and his immediate concern was that the incident could just as easily have involved a child.  

It happened on Halloween evening, and he believes the consequences could have been much worse had the dogs encountered children out trick-or-treating.  

“I’m incredibly sad that it happened to Suzy, however, if that was just another hour and a half later, local five or six year old children would have been out trick-or-treating,” he said.  

He added that children might naturally run away from two large dogs, potentially triggering their instinct to chase.  

Julian fears the dogs could pose a further risk to other animals and members of the public if they are not properly controlled.  

Suzy had been part of the Davidson family for 18 years, after being adopted as a kitten. Despite her age, Julian said she had remained in good health and was still very sprightly.

Her death has been devastating for Julian, his wife Joanne and their children, Georgina, 18, and Thomas, 23. The family hopes that speaking publicly about the incident will raise awareness of responsible dog ownership and the importance of keeping dogs under control.  

Julian said: “This has been devastating for the whole family and my immediate thought was that this violent attack could have been on a child. Were these dogs let out on purpose or did they escape? Either way, they were dangerous and out of control”.