Neighbours on holiday and left dog in house

This is so distressing. The poor, poor dog.

I would catch the person who is coming for twenty mins a day and explain that the poor dog is in serious distress and ask if it would be possible for you to have the dog until the owners return, or for you to pop in as well and take the dog out for a bit etc.

I would call the RSPCA separately too, but first and foremost I would want to speak to the person coming to the house every day.

Can you report a noise complaint to the council, and see if that sparks any action?

You left your cat outside for the week? I hope you at least made sure your cat had access to a safe shelter, food and water.

Your cat may have been pleased to see you on your return, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t upset not to be safe in their familiar environment with their humans.

Would you still have thought it ok to leave your cat, if you’d returned home and your cat was sick or injured?

Any pet owner should be aware that when they take on a pet, it is their responsibility to provide them with care, shelter and to meet their basic needs. This doesn’t stop when you need to, or choose to be away from home for an extended period of time. This doesn’t mean leaving them to fend for themselves or having inadequate care provided for 10 minutes or so a day. If you truly care for your pet(s) you would ensure that whoever cares for them in your absence will spend quality time with your pet(s) and meet all their needs.

Yes. Reading this thread I'm beginning to think the RSPCA are more than useless.

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?

wtf!!!!!! You left the cat to fend for itself for a week

Call the RSPCA

Dogs are not the same as cats. They are social animals. They need company.

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.

That poor dog. Leaving a dog on its own overnight is unacceptable even if someone is “popping in” once a day to feed it. It must be so frightened.

This is awful and I can imagine how distressing it is for you too. Are you in a position to take the dog in? I would approach whoever is taking the dog out for 20 mins and ask if you could take the dog into your house until they return. I would also report to the RSPCA.

@PrimaryBufferPanel As well as the RSPCA, make a noise complaint to the local environmental health.

Someone on my estate has done this. They've left for three weeks and have someone coming to feed and water but not walk. Regular Facebook posts about it and then Horror when someone says they've left it.

Authorities and rspca won't do anything as it's not in danger and has someone seeing it. That's why there are so many bad dogs out there. Expectations for ownership are small.

I took my dog to the beach yesterday and a kid came to stroke him. Proudly tells me how his big dogs are left and the neighbour checks on them. We have only been abroad once in the last 15 years when my mum stayed with our dog as we would never do that to him. We are currently in a wigwam in wales in the rain to make sure he's happy. He's been snoring away in contentment all night.

The owners are confusing cats with dogs!

20 minutes a day is not enough stimulation for a dog!

We went away for 1 night and had a friend walk the dogs during the day then sit with them for 4 hours in the evening, then another long walk the next morning!

I'd keep an eye out for the person coming round, let them know that the dog is howling in distress and ask if the owners are back shortly as if not they need to make alternative arrangements. Make it clear that the RCPCA will need to be called otherwise.

Please please please call the RSPCA, this is beyond cruel.

Makes you wonder how much they actually care about animals.

I really don't know how people can do this. Our dogs have gone to somewhere where they are fully looked after (in a home, not kennels) with people they know and I still feel flaming guilty.

We even alternate every year so they come with us in the UK and only go to boarding if we are going overseas. I would also feel so guilty for the noise to the neighbours. Oh and I know it was a generalisation upthread but our dogs are "lockdown" dogs so not all lockdown dogs are afterthoughts or badly treated. Ours are more pampered than we are and one of us WFH everyday

Isn't it more likely that everyone is feeling the same as you and not speaking to anyone about it. Speak to the person feeding. Speak to other neighbours. Report to RSPCA although they won't do a lot. Get people talking. Put a letter in the owners door telling them.how you've been listening to their poor dog crying in distress the entire time they were away enjoying their holidays. Shame them.

Poor poor dog! Definitely call the RSPCA and also leave a note on the door for the 'sitter' to explain the dog is crying 24/7 and the neighbours need to be notified in order to find another solution. Take a photo/video of you putting this up, and date it. Make a copy and post it through the letter box too.

The RSPCA won't do anything if it's fed and let out unfortunately.

You're definitely not the only one...;((

I tried to report something similar local to me, and was told that although annoying, nothing illegal is happening - WTF!
Report it every day and record the noise too.

report to the rspca - and don't mention the 20 minute feeder, just say the owners left with large suitcases and the dog has been crying ever since.

Even if they are being fed once a dog they obviously need to go out piss every few hours (not to mention the loneliness). This is heart breakingly cruel. Please be brave for this poor pup!

This is awful, that poor dog.

I have a cat which is a lot more self sufficient but I only leave him for a couple of nights, any longer and he goes to the cattery, he hates it but gets a bit lonely on his own and then starts wandering and getting into trouble. I cannot fathom leaving a dog locked up like this, even if it had a dog flap. I really think there needs to be a better system to ensure irresponsible pet owners lose their right to look after animals.