I just posted an anonymous letter to a neighbour. Oh God. Panicking.

[LetterPostie]

I live in a Victorian terrace with a back lane. There's a man who lives about 20 doors down from me who let's his dog shit in the back lane.

It's hard to confront him because he lets his dog out into the back lane, then he buggers off back into his house. So its not like he's stood there while the dog's shitting so you can say "Oi, mate, your dog just shit, pick it up".

Anyway, I'm sick of it.

So today I posted (like into the post box, not through his door) an anonymous letter which says the following:

"Dear [Man]

A group of neighours from [My Street] and [Next Street] have seen [Dog's Name] fouling in the back lane on multiple occasions.

It's selfish, it's a public health hazard, and we're sick of it.

We have gathered photo and video evidence that its [Dog's Name] doing this. If you don't start picking up after [Dog's Name], we will be sending the evidence to the dog warden team and environmental health at the Council.

Yours,
Neighbours"

I was feeling all brave and bold about it. But now I'm panicking that I actually went through with it. 😂

Scoop it up and dump it on his front step. He will have no choice but to pick it up.

There’s nothing worse than irresponsible dog owners. But is what you’ve said in the letter actually the case? Are there a group of you, and you are representing? I ask because I had a similar thing with a noisy neighbour who practised with a very loud band in his garage during the day while I was working. I rang the council who eventually wrote to him. The result was he got very aggressive and scared all the other neighbours into saying it wasn’t bothering them (it was, they’d all told me, knowing the only one who had any balls to do something about it was me) and as I was the only one who - when he asked - said it still bothered me, he knew it was me. Yeah he’s still doing it. That was a year ago. Sorry to veer off topic because I am with you, it’s hard to confront a stranger especially when what they’re doing is so objectively not OK. Keep us posted.

If a person is unreasonable enough to let their dog shit on the path outside neighbouring properties several times a week, the chances of them having a civil conversation and agreeing to change their ways are almost nil. Plus, shit man will then know the identity of OP, rather than the anonymous letter which has protected her identity.

@Nenas why does it have to be anonymous though?

Because OP is afraid of the guy being aggressive

I should think that the correlation between people who perpetrate antisocial behaviour and being aggressive/nasty is pretty good. Normal decent people don't let their dogs shit all over their neighbours' back paths.

Exactly this.

We shouldn’t have to make ourselves targets of these arseholes.

I don't think the anonymity is the real issue. It's the fact she has pretended to complain on behalf of multiple neighbours and she has done so without their consent.

She's pretending to have video footage of the offences.

She lives 20 doors down from him so the chances he will think it's her who is responsible are miniscule. Far more likely he'll think the letter was penned by someone who lives much closer.

All this to a man a she describes as 'odd' and 'weird' and who owns a shotgun he takes out to hunt squirrels in an urban area.

Plus she's ignoring questions and comments from posters pointing these things out.

Perhaps all those people who think what OP has done is such a hoot would like to live next to her?

Well, as I don't own a dog, and if I did I wouldn't be letting it out to shit everywhere, I don't think I've got anything to worry about if I lived next to OP.

You sent a note instead of talking to him? Why?

Do your neighbours agree that you should send such a note?

This sounds a bit junivinelle to me.

Well done for completely missing the point.

Which is that OP would be sending anonymous letters without your consent or knowledge to a 'weird', 'odd' gun-totting neighbour pretending to be complaining on behalf of 'the neighbours' and concocting a story about having video evidence of his (or his dog's) offending behaviour which she isn't afraid to use.

Maybe you'd feel safe in that situation but I would not want to live near either of them.

Good point!

I did similar the other week.

Dear Mrs no 12
Kindly tell your son XXX to keep his foghorn voice down in the early hours. There are professionals and shift workers living on this street who offer vital services to this community and who do not need to be woken up by shouts of Mummyyyyyyyyyyy as early as 6:10 in your front garden. We deserve to rest.
Yes, we know his name because he really is THAT LOUD.
Best wishes
Your very tired neighbors

haven’t heard so much as a peep since

👏👏

Filming people in public isn’t actually illegal. CCTV or video via phone etc.

So many shops and businesses film the streets around their properly. Police actively ask the public for CCTV of a street scene for evidence of a crime. DH is police and he said no one would ever tell a member of the public to only have their camera facing their properly and nothing else. He said CCTV is too valuable as evidence in some circumstances so they’d never make life difficult for the public.

What you can’t do is train cctv on just your neighbours property.

Good on you

No it's not far fetched at all, lots of squirrel hunters eat them. I could name youtubers who shoot grey squirrels to help bring the population down, who do so.

@LetterPostie he is not shooting squirrels with a shotgun. It'll be an air rifle.

@LetterPostie The only mistake is that you used emotive language, whereas a first communication of this kind should be strictly fact-based.

Instead of "It's selfish, it's a public health hazard, and we're sick of it," it would have been better to simply say "This is a public health hazard" or something to that effect.

Good on you OP. If I knew which filthy barsteward was letting their dog shit on our pavement I'd do the same too.

I reported a neighbour across the road for this, then a few days later my neighbour's bin got burned where the dog fouling was taking place.

That's not illegal.

I was just asking because of the price of stamps, I mean if the OP posted it 1st class it would have cost her £1.70!

Yes, but's not that simple in this case, you can't share your Ring doorbell footage beyond your boundary with just anyone, for example.

I think that’s an awful thing to do op. Spineless and neurotic

I confronted an offender outside my drive years ago, and said this belongs to you, it was bagged, stopped her

No one would be able to shoot squirrels in an urban area with a shotgun. They would be arrested.