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Done with my neighbours

5 replies

Lifewithasixyearold · 03/08/2021 05:42

Help, I’ve reached breaking point with my neighbours.
My day starts with their cockerel crowing & ends with them calling their dog in at midnight. All day their dog barks hysterically at my neighbour strimming, mowing, firing up another two stroke engine or small tractor. Every day since the start of lockdown he interrupts my working day, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to ask if he could keep the noise down (really nicely every time)) because people in a meeting think I’ve got builders (they’re not building now, that was most of last year this is just the need for him to strum/mow/cut everything so it looks like it’s in a park)).
I’ve been here 25 years and since he’s partially retired the noise levels have risen exponentially, over the years they’ve had an assortment of different, poorly trained dogs - their daughter has a scar on her face from a collie, our post isn’t delivered to our door anymore due to the Alsatian that attacked anyone visiting (or me or DH for that matter), last year we lost two cats to their pointer.
Another cat died yesterday, killed by their dog, I don’t know how to tell my daughter, the cat was her confidant, she spoke to him for hours, he slept in her bed Sad
When the dog came into our garden earlier this year and nearly ripped the leg off one cat our insurers refused to pay because I’d not reported the dog/neighbour to the police. I reported, the community officer & the rspca dog expert came to see them. It was agreed that they would pay the vets bills, that the dog would be confined to their garden & exercised on the lead and that they would engage a professional trainer. After 6 months the dog is pretty free range again (though yesterday the cat was in their garden sadly) the trainer only came once & though they say they check to make sure he isn’t going to attack anything I know it’s only the wife that does, he doesn’t.
I feel so guilty, I don’t want to imprison a cat, we live in what should be the perfect location - miles from a road, in woods and farmland. Heaven up until the last year. It should be heaven working here too- I have a demanding job & working from home should be a massive bonus, returning to work in an office isn’t an option anymore anyway as I’m now external, not exec.
I need to go back to the community officer because they didn’t stick to the agreement, I know I need to block them out but if it’s warm weather I’ll need a window open, I can’t move, we’ll never find anywhere as nice as this and the end of the mortgage is in sight, finally.
Help, we’ve spent so much time with them over the years but it’s over, no more, I can’t pretend there isn’t a huge issue anymore
What do I do?

OP posts:
gardeninggirl68 · 03/08/2021 11:09

I'm not sure where to start!!!

The cats being killed and dogs attacking people....how can they think that's ok?

The noise....well he's retired, it's his home. Not really his problem that you now have to WFH.

Pick your battles with this one I'd say!

mbosnz · 03/08/2021 11:15

If the dog comes onto your property, could you find a way to hold it there, and get the pound, dog control, or whatever they call it over here, to come and collect it? I don't know if that's possible, but they shouldn't have animals, and it could be interesting if they had to pay a fine to collect it. . .

dontgobaconmyheart · 03/08/2021 11:24

I agree the animal situation seems out of control and you should be following it up, so sorry about your cats.

Otherwise, whilst I genuinely sympathise OP I don't know what to say, he is entitled to do what he likes on his property during all legally reasonable hours. It's his day as well as 'your working day'. He isn't required to make changes just because you now work from home.

Whilst you may like your house perhaps rural living isn't necessarily working as well as you might think. In my experience of living in similar there will very often be dogs roaming, cockerels and various animals kept as well as machine noise, agricultural noise etc. This particular home clearly isn't ever going to be a suitable environment to keep your own cats while the neighbour keeps dogs roaming.

In terms of 'never finding anywhere as nice' - what makes you think that? Being stressed in your own home enduring noise and having your pets killed sounds awful. Property prices have for the most part gone up this year, if you're at the stil end of paying the mortgage then in theory you are in a good position if you wanted to move.

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IveGotASongThatllGetOnYNerves · 03/08/2021 11:28

The first thing you need to do is secure your garden so your cat can't get out. There are several ways to do this. Cat proof fencing, a cat run etc. It can be done. It isn't a choice between keep your cat as you put it "imprisoned" or let them loose to be torn apart by a dog.

The noise - keep a record, get recordings, build a case for noise nuisance.

gardeninggirl68 · 03/08/2021 12:36

Mowing the lawn and strumming will not be classed as 'noise nuisance!' Grin

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