Neighbours on holiday and left dog in house

Just hell for so many dear creatures. ( and children)

You are correct - my terrier was used for hunting - taken from her mother at just 4 weeks.

Absolute monsters.

It is … the dog needs 24 hour care …end of

It's terrible how some people should just not have animals {Or children}
Animals and children are so dependent on their people.

Met a lovely woman who said her daughter has a rescue Lurcher who had been treated very badly, and it has taken months to get her to settle-
Traumatised animals, or unsocialised ones sometimes never fully 'recover'.

A Whippet rescued in Australia had never been out of his crate- for over a year.
{Hoarding situation} - he was afraid of people as they had never been a positive thing in his life. He was terrified of EVERYTHING, having only ever seen the bare walls of an outbuilding through a cage.

His experienced adopter just couldn't get him to come out of his shell- in the end, he met up with a female Whippet from the same hoarding situation- they think she could have been his mother- and the two of them now live together.

He will never probably trust people.

Animal hoarding is abuse. Women seem to do this, while in Spain, it's the men hunting that's more of a problem.

That’s so irresponsible. I hope your cat moves in with someone else. In fact that’s probably happening if he’s “as happy as Larry” after being locked out for a week. Some other kind person will be feeding him.

Thanks for this oakleaffy, it is so shocking isn't it.

I have a terrier - rescued from a terrible life in Spain. She is adorable but will never be completly ok due to her experiences there. I loathe the people that abused her.

Best wishes.

I've just got back from house sitting a very aloof cat!
She stayed upstairs and barely ventured out from under the bed, or behind the loo- but after a few days she trusted me enough to come for a head rub.

{she has form for this, as was a feral born kitten}

But even though she's wary, her people say she would like knowing there was someone in the house with her, aside from feeding , watering and litter tray duty.

It really was.

I offered {as did others} to walk the poor dog {We used to pass the scrap yard to get to the fields, so it was no hardship to take another dog with us}

He was such a sweet, friendly puppy - but as he matured, he developed {unsurprisingly} a fierce streak where his only ''activity'' was lunging and snapping at the end of his chain at passer~by.

Prior to the Collie X, they had a 'loose terrier', a JRT X who used to bite {He nipped my heel once} but this dog was run over, hence the chaining of the Collie X.

At least the Terrier could run up the track - he was a menace, but had a better life than the poor Collie.

Well I'm sure the statistics exist somewhere but faulty electrics, space heaters, sunshine reflection, it happens.

Anyway I was being a bit flippant in just mentioning fire, but it just feels risky and wrong to me, I would never do that with my dogs and I remember being amazed the first time I heard someone doing that (naive I'm sure). I just thought house sitters or kennels was a given. My dog would definitely be very distressed if someone wasn't in the house overnight.

As for the dog alerting the neighbours, if it's been barking all hours anyway I don't think that's going to help!! The fire alarm might be audible outside but it likely wouldn't be. I just can't see why you'd take the risk.

👏👏👏

I would ask whoever is feeding the dog if I could take the dog in for the duration of the holiday. Be honest and say you can hear it crying and it is distressing for both you and the dog. I would have to do this for the sake of that poor dog.

I wish they would be banned from ever owning another animal. For life.

I hate people like this. When we got a dog in 2016, he was a rescue dog with severe separation issues. Now, we can leave him if we go out for, say, half a day but there's no way that we would leave him and go off on holiday - in fact, we haven't gone away on holiday since then as he would be so distressed and he doesn't travel well in the car.

You buy a dog, you buy a life - not a toy. Some people need a sharp reminder of this.

How absolutely disgusting and heartbreaking.

I cannot think of a dog which would not be severely distressed by being alone for so long - we seriously need to up welfare standards in this country. For a social animal, this is horrendous.

I cannot understand anyone who does this. We have a dog and 3 cats. When we go away we ensure the dog is looked after by friends of ours, at their homes, and they have doggy friends there too. The cats stay at home, they have a cat flap so can come and go as they please. We have a cat sitting service call twice a day to feed them, give fresh water, clean the litter tray if it’s been used and cuddle/play with the cats. They send us updates of every visit and photos. This is a much better arrangement than a cattery. Only sent them twice. Never, ever, again!!! The cats are happy and chilled when we return, they stank and we’re horribly stressed after the cattery. The dog sulks because he wants to stay with his mate 🤣🤣

I mean the dogs more likely to alert the neighbours of an issue than a sleeping person. Then someone could smash the window.

Tho not many empty houses catch fire while someone’s on holiday. Unless maybe the dogs the arsonist. To serve them right for leaving him 😅

How many unmanned houses spontaneously combust?

yup far to hard to click see all.

I really do wonder how so many people think the rspca have actual legal powers.

They are a charity they have no more actual power to take an animal (without the police) than Doris down the road.

“The RSPCA is a registered charity (no. 219099) that relies on donations from the public. The RSPCA states that its mission as a charity is, by all lawful means, to prevent cruelty, promote kindness and to alleviate the suffering of animals.”

It shouldn't be legal to leave a dog alone overnight. What if there was a fire?!

Haha yeah you often hear how pointless they are, bit like Nspcc for urchins.
I think the dog got moved a few pages ago didnt it but people dont read the updates.

I was just about to ask if anyone had mentioned the ZERO legal rights to enter or take the dog RSPCA.

Its about time someone mentioned the RSPCA, can't believe nobody has yet.

This in Animal cruelty . Call the RSPCA. They should not be allowed to have a dog!! FFS!!!
Corner the person who let it out, tell her you will take it to look after.
Then if you can’t look after tot, take it to the SPCA.
It make me feel sick!

This is positively cruel, how did your poor cat eat. When we went away our cat had a microchipped cat flap so can come and go as she pleased. We had someone come into her three times a day as she missed us and I still felt guilty. Shame on you!

Well, your cat had reason but feeding a neighbour's cat can be problematic (does anyone remember the picture book Six Dinner Sid?). My DS's cat voted with his paws when a neighbour fed him. Ten years later he turned up at a vet's badly nourished and thin and my exDiL was notified because he was microchipped. Luckily same phone number. Samcat came home to my DS and had 3 happy years with him before passing away this summer. Without doubt, Samcat had had an adventurous life but he was stolen by the neighbours. My DS and ex-DiL did not neglect him and he was the son of my cat, so it was very upsetting when he disappeared and no enquiries could find him.
But your cat was neglected. Who leaves their cat without someone to look after it when they go away? Hope your cat is happy with you and lives long.