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Original poster

Neighbours on holiday and left dog in house

238 replies

PrimaryBufferPanel · 19/08/2024 04:20

And the poor bloody animal has been crying and barking for 24 hours. She has the occasional rest but it’s pretty much constant other than that. They have form for this: worst before this recent episode was leaving the poor dog crying for 12 hours straight when they went out one time. That wasn’t the only time but was previously the worst.

They were reported and notified so they know their dog has separation anxiety. Yet this morning in the early hours the entire family fucks off on holiday - must be a holiday as they all had suitcases - and since they left, that poor dog has been crying.

Someone came in for around twenty minutes earlier today to let the dog in the garden and presumably to feed her. But then they fucked off and since then just non stop crying interspersed with barking. it’s honestly NOT annoying me - it’s making me feel so sad for the dog.

Given they had suitcases this has got to be for at least a week, I know the dog will be fed and let out for twenty minutes a day but it’s so clearly in distress! What would you do? Anything?

OP posts:
MrTiddlesTheCat · 19/08/2024 15:57

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 13:31

@MrTiddlesTheCat

ehere do you live, I think I'd like it there 😊

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Sweden. We had a massive problem with people leaving cats and buggering off on holiday. So now all cats have to be chipped and on the government register and have to be checked on every 24 hours if you're away.

Original poster
PrimaryBufferPanel · 19/08/2024 15:31

To the person who went away for a week and left their cat outside to fend for itself: you’re disgusting.

OP posts:
Original poster
PrimaryBufferPanel · 19/08/2024 15:31

Bit of an update. So I only saw someone go in once yesterday but they’ve been in at least once today (possibly twice?), just to feed her and let her into the garden, but even so that’s better than once a day. Another neighbour has spoken to the one coming in and I believe has tried to get a message to the owners about the dog crying - although if they’re abroad, as I suspect, there’s not much they can do even if they wanted to.

So they will know their dog is in distress and hopefully make some other kind of arrangement from afar? I really don’t know. I just hope they’ve only gone for one week.

I didn’t want to immediately go for the nuclear option of swooping in and getting the dog removed, because although this current situation is horrible she (the dog) looks well cared for in general although I never see them walk her, she just gets put in the garden to do her business. Thank fuck they’ve got a garden, eh?

OP posts:
Anotherparkingthread · 19/08/2024 14:41

Boopbeepbeepboop · 19/08/2024 14:36

Trying to do something is better than doing nothing. Why would reporting a distressed animal be only to make yourself feel better? I think that probably says more about you than anything else.

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There's literally nothing to be done though. The animals minimal care requirements are being met and wether or not you agree with that morally, or I do, is besides the point.

Boopbeepbeepboop · 19/08/2024 14:36

Anotherparkingthread · 19/08/2024 10:49

Well yeah. In much the same way when something isn't a crime, you probably shouldn't report it.

Why would you want to if you know nothing will happen? To waste people's time? To make yourself feel better by taking ultimately fruitless actions?

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Trying to do something is better than doing nothing. Why would reporting a distressed animal be only to make yourself feel better? I think that probably says more about you than anything else.

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 13:36

I wonder if @PrimaryBufferPanel is going to come back to their thread with any kind of comment:update?

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 13:31

MrTiddlesTheCat · 19/08/2024 11:42

Disgusting. That's a criminal offence where I live.

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@MrTiddlesTheCat

ehere do you live, I think I'd like it there 😊

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 13:29

BettyBardMacDonald · 19/08/2024 11:30

I wish there had been a trigger warning; this is extremely distressing.

@BettyBardMacDonald

What would you like the TW for?

Was the title not quite enough to earn you it wasn't going to be warm fuzzy thread?

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 13:20

oakleaffy · 19/08/2024 10:36

That's really awful.
Poor poor dog.

Surely they are breaking noise laws? The noise of the barking would really disturb me- barking dogs , especially an abandoned dog is very distressing.

RSPCA are useless- I have reported {as did many others} a dog chained up in a scrap yard -He was never walked, the RSPCA Chap said ''Dog has a barrel to shelter in, food and water- it's not illegal to keep a dog chained 24/7 365 days a year, unfortunately''

I offered to walk the dog so many times, it was refused.
He got more and more aggressive with frustration as the years went by, his chain polished smooth with dragging across the ground.

A Border Collie X.
A dog with that intelligence chained for life.

It was so bad.

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@oakleaffy

yge RSPCA are not the problem here, they can only work within the law and the LAW is frightfully low bar.

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 13:17

Grammarnut · 19/08/2024 09:48

The dog hasn't been abandoned, someone is coming in to feed her and exercise her. Would she be better in kennels? Probably not. The issue is that the dog owners have not come to terms with having a dog, nor have they trained her properly (mind, if she is something like a cocapoo she will have inbuilt anxiety because the cross in highly-strung), nor have they thought about the sort of dog which would suit their life-style. They need a good dog-walker who will board the dog when they are away. This is expensive, however. The alternative is to take 'dog-friendly' holidays, which means staying in the UK.

DD and her DP have a dog with anxiety. They either take him with them when they go away, or board him with his dog-walker, or find a family member to come and stay if it's a short break, or messy and work-related (DD travels a lot for her job).

Neighbours are not being cruel, but they have the wrong dog for their life-style and cannot afford/do not understand that they need a more hands-on style of dog-sitter, rather than relying on a friend to come in once a day to feed/walk the dog.
Why do you not offer to dog-sit if this upsets you?

@Grammarnut

Dont be ridiculous, of course the neighbours are being cruel.

no dog would be happy being shut in (with its own shit) while the owners go on holiday, being fed once a day & company for 20 minutes.

Even your daughter has more sense.

not all cockapoos are highly strung & anxious either.

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 13:12

DonnaBanana · 19/08/2024 09:38

I just went away for a week and left my cat outside. Came back he’s happy as Larry. Animals can adapt if you let them after all they come from nature.

@DonnaBanana

thats cruel. Leaving it to hunt wildlife too I assume? Or did you at least have the decency to have someone feeding it? Did it have any safe shelter? I'm guessing not. Poor cat. You shouldn't have a cat if you're not going to care for it.

that aside, cats are not dogs. Dogs have been domesticated to suit humans, the very least a human can do is provide safe shelter, food & exercise, plus obvious somewhere to toilet.

before we interfered they didn't used to shit in kitchen not live alone.

HoneyLimesBlossom · 19/08/2024 12:49

@HamBagelNoCheese well please don’t take ‘offence’ but BUGGER off then! People like me and my types of helpers and darling doggies haven’t got time for time wasters like you Barbara.

OhmygodDont · 19/08/2024 12:35

RSPCA don’t actually have the powers to do bugger all. Yes they will come and do the tape trick but again if the tape is intact it’s the police who technically legally take the dog and then hand it over to the rspca to look after.

As long as the dog has food, water, shelter(if outside) someone’s popping in once a day they cannot and will not do anything other than offer advice to the owner about improving the dogs time while they are away with more popping in or using kennels.

People seem to believe wrongly that the RSPCA are some kind of pet police with rights and legal standing to come and take away pets. They don’t.

Sometimes people get scammed to paying someone/a company to visit multiple times for hours and they just don’t turn up sadly. Or supposed to be sleeping over and again they lie and just pop in once a day.

Dog warden again won’t care, council for noise won’t solve anything either. You’ll ring, they will say do a diary for 1/2 weeks then take it further by which point dog owners back.

Not a good life for the dog but not a police break down the door and rescue situation.

Starlight1979 · 19/08/2024 12:25

DonnaBanana · 19/08/2024 09:38

I just went away for a week and left my cat outside. Came back he’s happy as Larry. Animals can adapt if you let them after all they come from nature.

This is the equivalent of those shit dog owners who leave their dog home alone / in a crate for 8-9 hours a day and claim that they're "fine". Guess it helps to ease their guilty conscience.

HamBagelNoCheese · 19/08/2024 12:11

HoneyLimesBlossom · 19/08/2024 11:10

@HamBagelNoCheese do you need similar help ? or would you like to volunteer the team (need someone to cover norfolk way ) i’m london and west essex and we also need someone in suffolk /lowestoft way too including home checks for rescues

if you need please feel free to pm ..

To do what exactly? Vigilante dognapping? I kind of need to keep a clean record for work purposes.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 19/08/2024 12:04

God this is awful. My neighbour just moved house, but she occasionally had to spend long days away for work leaving her dog. Dog was fed and walked by her before she left in the morning, I would go in and walk her for an hour at lunchtime, go back at 5ish and walk her again and give her her dinner, then do a round the block for a wee type walk about 8. Neighbour would be home at 11ish. Even then I felt sorry for the dog but couldn't have her here even though I WFH a lot - our cat hates her and hisses at her.

To the PP saying they left their cat outside when going on holiday, shame on you.

DiscoBeat · 19/08/2024 11:59

Motnight · 19/08/2024 11:27

That's awful if true.

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You don't deserve animals

DBSFstupid · 19/08/2024 11:58

MrTiddlesTheCat · 19/08/2024 11:42

Disgusting. That's a criminal offence where I live.

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👏The other poster's perfect word fror this individual got deleted unfortunately.

DBSFstupid · 19/08/2024 11:55

Luio · 19/08/2024 11:52

This must happen all the time. So many people have dogs and the majority obviously don’t have a clue about them. You can tell by the breeds that they choose, the ‘clothes’ they put them in and the shut in lonely lifestyle that they inflict on them.

Indeed😔😥

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 11:55

Starlight1979 · 19/08/2024 09:11

Makes you wonder how much they actually care about animals.

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@Starlight1979

I think the issue is the lack of agency not lack of willing! They can only take action within the law (unfortunately). We need to get the laws changed but it's incredibly difficult to do 🥲

DBSFstupid · 19/08/2024 11:54

BettyBardMacDonald · 19/08/2024 11:30

I wish there had been a trigger warning; this is extremely distressing.

😢I know. Anything to do with cruelty to Animals distresses me and I often get invoved when I probably shouldn't. Has to be done. x

Luio · 19/08/2024 11:52

This must happen all the time. So many people have dogs and the majority obviously don’t have a clue about them. You can tell by the breeds that they choose, the ‘clothes’ they put them in and the shut in lonely lifestyle that they inflict on them.

DBSFstupid · 19/08/2024 11:47

RickyGervaislovesdogs · 19/08/2024 10:32

All of this.

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Agree. 100%

SummerSplashing · 19/08/2024 11:47

Blingu · 19/08/2024 08:13

PM the person above. It might be someone like my old dog walker who was forever pinching neglected dogs and rehoming them. The old Alsatian that lived chained in a yard now is found lounging on luxury cushions and is partial to rotisserie chicken. The cockerpoo that was a matted mess who was regularly left over night in the garden with a few manky bowls put down has had quite the glow up and looks like it should be titled. There is a bit of a group of like minded people and there is a horse division too. They buy neglected pets where possible but where it isn’t…

@Blingu

its part of my lottery win dream!!

DBSFstupid · 19/08/2024 11:45

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