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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think pets should only be allowed in ground floor flats

56 replies

frillybiscuits · 10/12/2015 23:21

I'm sure there is a rule in council flats that you can only have large animals (cats and dogs) in ground floor flats but I may be wrong. My neighbour upstairs has a dog and the noise caused by it running around, playing and going about its own business is horrendous. I have nothing against people having pets. I have a cat of my own and they didn't know I had her until she accidentally got out one day and I asked them to keep an eye out for me. This means they can't hear her meowing or running about. Now the dog is just turning adult so has more growing to do yet so the noise will get louder. Obviously it can't help having to run around and such, it can't just stay in one place 24/7. They let it out for a run in their garden once a day so has a lot of energy to use up inside. It sounds like an elephant is crashing around up there and I struggle to hear my tv/talk to visitors when it's doing so. My midwife had to leave and wait until our next appointment because she couldn't concentrate on talking to me.

Also I know that there are people out there with pets that can't choose if they have a ground floor flat or not and don't want to get rid of a family member but other residents do need to be considered when noise is concerned.

AIBU to think large pets shouldn't be allowed in any flat that isn't ground level because of the noise?

OP posts:
MrsTerryPratchett · 11/12/2015 05:13

The music, the taxi rank, just their general shittiness, you are right. But the dog? I just couldn't.

Nataleejah · 11/12/2015 05:31

YABU
And since when cats are large animals?
Large dogs are usually much quieter than little yappy ones.

kali110 · 11/12/2015 05:38

I have had a dog and no it wasn't like that.
All that is awful, about them but that's no reason to take it out on the dog, which you would be doing.
A lot of animals don't get rehomed!
Most of the stuff you've sAid is about them, it just sounds like you want to get back at them.
How do you know they Didn't want a groundfloor flat but were turned down? Not everybody just turfs their pet out.
Yes if you want to start a war you're going about it the right way.
It all sounds like you hate them, with good reason so you're going to do anything to get at them.
I could not do this, my heth is affected by sleep, but no way would i have a dog taken away when there isn't a sign of abuse ( you haven't you're just assuming) to be potentially put to sleep.

kali110 · 11/12/2015 05:39

And no, cats are not large animals.
We have 3 now and we never know when they are in.
( and i've lived with 4 plus a random that visited and you never could tell if they were in the house).

DeltaSunrise · 11/12/2015 05:43

But the dog? I bloody well could and I say that as a dog lover and owner.

  1. they are not allowed dogs in the flat

  2. they've already had a dog taken off them

  3. the dog isn't walked properly or enough

  4. the dog noise is such a nuisance that the op had to have an important person (midwife) rearrange an appointment because of the noise.

THAT is not OK, regardless of its the dogs fault or not, I would absolutely report thybits got so bad that I couldn't have important visitors round or hear my own tv ffs.

All this "live and let live" is bullshit. Why the hell should op have to live like this?

Absolutely report it OP and if you aren't already, keep a diary of every single time you are disturbed by the noise and the effect it's having on you.

ProudAS · 11/12/2015 06:41

All flats should be soundproofed IMO. We've got another very active thread about a neighbour being kept awake by a baby and breast pump.

It's easy to say neighbour noise is inevitable in a flat but that doesn't make it any less debilitating to some people.

The dog isn't being cared for properly either. That's another issue but would be equally unacceptable in a ground floor flat.

Nataleejah · 11/12/2015 06:56

If a dog isn't cared for properly, that's another thing.

But to be brutally honest -- noise is the reality of living in flats. Somebody will party, babies will scream, older children will run/jump, dogs will bark, somebody will practice a musical instrument, somebody will do DIY.
Saying this as who grew up in a block of flats.
A hut in a forest -- then you'll get complete silence.

RomComPhooey · 11/12/2015 07:02

Delta - All this "live and let live" is bullshit. Why the hell should op have to live like this? At the point I said that, the OP was just moaning about the dog. She's dripfed half a dozen other neighbour "crimes" since then, which put a different complexion on things. No need for you to get so aerated about it though.

AllThePrettySeahorses · 11/12/2015 07:05

Nah, Nataleejah - the OP would complain about the birdsong Wink.

I really think you should drop it, especially as you say you're leaving when your baby's born (soonish I'm guessing?). It comes across as a little spiteful to be complaining about the dog when it seems your real motive is that you just don't like your neighbours.

Imustgodowntotheseaagain · 11/12/2015 07:08

If they had one dog taken away, wouldn't they have been banned from keeping another?

Mrsmorton · 11/12/2015 07:09

Someone from the council told you they had had a dog taken from them? Really?

BrandNewAndImproved · 11/12/2015 07:13

Massive dripfeed.

I don't mind if my neighbours have a party or drunken loud argument or make loads of noise. In my head those times are stored up for when I make loads of noise.

We once had a shagging competition of who could make the loudest noises Grin

Leelu6 · 11/12/2015 07:18

YANBU, OP, don't listen to a MidnightScribbler (I would not want to be their number).

Glad the taxis are gone! That was fast work Grin

They're not allowed to have a dog up there so they should not. Simple as.

They sound like nightmare neighbours. Glad you're standing your ground. Hopefully they'll be moved out and you can have a decent neighbour.

Leelu6 · 11/12/2015 07:18

*neighbour not number

Leelu6 · 11/12/2015 07:21

Nataleejah - I live in a block of flats and hear my neighbours very rarely. Usually when they have a rare blazing row.

Leelu6 · 11/12/2015 07:23

All the people complaining about drip feed- I don't think you need the extra posts to tell you op was NBU. Hmm

Atenco · 11/12/2015 07:24

My neighbour above me has about ten dogs and I never, ever hear them, until I knock on her door. Modern buildings are so incredibly badly designed.

MrsDeathOfRats · 11/12/2015 07:24

My NDN have a little yappy fucker dog. We live in a high rise building, pretty high up. We have tiny balconys and i know they don't let the dog out there. Dog gets walked once/twice a day. But this WALK is sometimes a walk, sometimes a 'go and shit' and sometimes a 'here jump in my van and stay there while I pop to the shops' so it never stops yapping. It careers around in that flat and I feel deeply sorry for it.
Not its fault that the owners were selfish enough to self indulge with a pet when they don't live in a appropriate setting. Not its fault that they can't be bothered to exercise it properly.

Would it be any different if they were ground floor residents? No.
I haven't called the council cos I know there are others with dogs in the building who do look after them properly and I know the council will come and do a 'sweep' of each flat.

I don't think your being U at all.
And against popular opinion I would call the council as it sounds like they are problem tenants and it might be another nail in the coffin for getting them evicted?

If the dog isn't being cared for properly then calling the RSPCA isn't taking it 'from a loving family and getting it put down' it's rescuing it and having it re-homed.

shutupandshop · 11/12/2015 07:27

Yanbu. I know you say your moving to a house when baby is born but might be worth just grinning and bearing it as they sound like they might make things hard for yoy when your baby is born.

FishWithABicycle · 11/12/2015 07:35

Yanbu to report to the council. Report both to the housing department who are the landlords and to the environmental health / noise pollution department - the two sections won't be any good at communicating with each other.

Chattymummyhere · 11/12/2015 07:36

Yanbu.

As someone who's lived in a large flat top floor a flat is no place for a dog more so when they never get walked. When my own dogs get upstairs in my house sometimes it sounds like a herd of elephants running around.

I would report it just as I would any other sound complaint rather than as a breach on tenancy. You will get a diary to fill in and if they deem it then sound equipment which will clarify the sound level you are hearing and if it's acceptable or not. You might find the warning of fines and removal of animal will make them more considerate and try to improve it or they may just crate the animal when out. If they end up just crating it then the issue will get worse before better, but then it would be an animal Wellfare concern.

KakiFruit · 11/12/2015 07:39

YABU. No kind of flat (or house) is a good place for a dog unless it's walked properly - the level is irrelevant. Soundproofing is your problem.

WeThreeMythicalKings · 11/12/2015 07:43

Report them, OP. And keep a diary of their antisocial behaviour. With luck they'll be evicted.

Nataleejah · 11/12/2015 07:52

Nataleejah - I live in a block of flats and hear my neighbours very rarely. Usually when they have a rare blazing row.
Then you're lucky you live in a proper building. Where i came from, you could hear people's toilet activities.

Oh, i forgot to mention passionate sex and even more passionate domestics Grin once my parents called the police the neigbours were fighting screaming, shouting, things flying, and then suddenly... Dead silence. We were like -- OMG somebody just got murdered!
Turned out it was nothing.

Birdsgottafly · 11/12/2015 08:16

I never understood the pulling down of good high rise flats.

I partly grew up in one, on Merseyside and my Nan lived in one (after compulsory purchase in the 60's).

You couldn't hear your neighbours, or the lift. There was space for drying washing and rubbish storage.

Most of the flats built, that they've renamed apartments, aren't fit for purpose, even though they're built for purpose.

If you live in a flat, though, you pick a breed of dog that is inactive in the house, rescue greyhounds are perfect for flats.

In truth it's very unlikely the dog will be rehomed, the shelters can't cope wth the influx December/Jan/Feb.

The issues build because people Bitch between themselves and don't consistently go down the correct channels to make complaints.