Neighbours have left their dogs alone in a house that's been on fire.

[Geobat]

Part One:

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here and I'm honestly in desperate need of some advice please?

This is going to be a long post because I want to explain everything so far (it helps me personally, as well as potential advice-givers, I guess), so I apologise for the long read!

Okay, here goes. My OH and I live in a 70's terraced house, the walls are thin, the house is small and it feels cramped with the two of us living here.
Next door, we have a family of 2 adults, 2 young children and 2 medium/big dogs.

As of 8th of December 2018, there was a fire in this neighbour's house (we were told by a firefighter that they suspected the fire was started by an unsupervised child, who had tried to use the toaster, but had accidentally set some paper on fire). The fire was a small kitchen one, but we saw the smoke escaping through the roof, and it had entered our bedroom, too - this is how we'd ended up speaking to a firefighter because we were concerned about how much smoke was upstairs.

Once the fire had been extinguished and the fire brigade had left, the family packed up some of their belongings and left. Leaving the dogs behind. My partner and I had assumed they would collect the dogs later that day. They didn't. They return to the house once a day to feed/water the dogs. They rarely let them out and the don't take them for walks (not that they ever did when they were living in the house, either).
4 days later, the constant barking, whining and fighting from the dogs had really gotten to me. I'm currently fighting anxiety and depression, I'm on medication but I'm out of work due to another medical issue (one in which I'm waiting for surgery). Because of these issues, I'm at home a lot. I rarely go out. The continuous noises were getting to me and I was losing sleep.

(Continued...)

Part Two:

I decided to write a letter to the neighbours explaining what was happening. This is not the first time we've had to contact them about their dogs. Whenever the dogs are left alone, they bark, whine, howl and fight (well, one terrorises the other). They have also in the past destroyed our fence, entered the garden, defecated - and when the neighbour was approached before, his response was "Well, that's what dogs do, isn't it?" No. It's not.

I explained in the letter how the dogs act, that it's unfair to the neighbours, it's unfair to the dogs and I mentioned again that I'm dealing with anxiety and depression.

A day later, I was finally getting some sleep on the sofa, falling asleep around 7am. At approximately 9am, a loud banging on the door woke me, it was aggressive sounding (a rapping on the door with someone's knuckles). When I'm home alone, I rarely answer the door, especially if the knocking is hostile in any way.
They knocked the door again, louder and longer. And then a third time.
They then gave up.
About 20 minutes later, a letter was posted through the door.
The neighbour had responded saying that we were being unfair, and "instead of passing notes", they had left their mobile number asking to talk about it. This actually seemed like a positive step and I figured they'd possibly be more mature about it.
I sent them a text. I was polite, I asked how we were being unfair. I showed concern for the dog's health and I told them that the notes were sent under council guidelines. We weren't acting inappropriately.

No one replied to the text.

It's now 23 days after the fire.
The dogs are still in the house, alone.
They're locked in a house that has been on fire, and I'm sure it's not doing their health any good.
The constant barking and howling are exhausting and I'm fed up of not sleeping well. I'm concerned about the dogs' mental health and physical health (although I know the RSPCA are happy with a dog's well-being as long as they are fed and have a home).

I've contacted the council about the issues, and all they have done is send me a noise diary. I'm aware that's the first step to a noise complaint, but I'm concerned about the dogs well-being.

Could anyone help me on this issue please? Is there anything else I can do besides filling in the noise complaint?
Are the dogs okay in a house that has fire damage?
Are there any other steps I can take to resolve this?
Or am I just being unreasonable with the whole thing?

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated, thank you!
Sorry again for the mini-novel!

Have you actually contacted the RSPCA? If someone is only visiting once a day, chances are those dogs are living in their own filth.

Try the RSPCA, they have left animals locked in after a house fire and never walked. Cances are the power is off, so no heat. How cruel.
Are you sure they come to feed and water daily?

Jesus wept. Contact the RSPCA or someone. Please. Poor dogs.

Why have you assumed that the dogs are healthy and adequately fed/watered?

The RSPCA wouldn't overlook this.

You've picked one of the busiest times for the Police (who the RSPCA would need the back up of), to suddenly be concerned.

Text them and tell them you are reporting it and see what they've got to say.

With the walls being so thin, we can hear when someone enters the house. I'm often in the kitchen too, so I see when the neighbour's car is outside. I'm certain they're visiting once a day.
I hadn't thought about the power or heating. I can't say anything about the heating as there's no way to check, but whenever my partner or I have been outside at night, the lights are always off.
Thank you for your response!

Or try your local council dog warden maybe. You need to do something ASAP.

If those dogs are inside 24/7 they are shitting and pissing in the house! That’s an RSPCA call right there. Call them and tell them.

Oops, I'm still getting used to the ins and outs of this site, but the message above was aimed at an individual user haha.

I'll write my responses to everyone here.

@Celebelly When we first had issues with the dogs, the RSPCA didn't care at all and I don't have much faith in them. However, I will try again and see what they say, thank you!

@Troels My response above was supposed to be aimed at you haha, sorry about my poor understanding of this site!

@TakemedowntoPotatoCity Thank you, I think I will try again since that's what everyone seems to be suggesting.

@Birdsgottafly I've seen the neighbours entering the property daily, and according to the RSPCA website, the dogs only need that as a bare minimum for it to be adequate. I personally don't believe the dogs are well looked after at all. Thank you very much, I will definitely try contacting the RSPCA in the morning and hopefully they'll take this seriously.

FFS. You've waited 23 days. Report it every day until the dogs are removed.

@Inforthelonghaul I've actually not heard of a local dog warden, but I will definitely look into it, thank you for the advice!

@ILoveMaxiBondi That's exactly the conclusion I have come to as well, sadly when I reported them last time (they'd left the dogs for a few days, and someone was visiting them once a day then, too.) The RSPCA were only concerned with how the dogs looked (health-wise). I had told them then that I couldn't tell because we never see the dogs outside, or being walked. They dropped the matter, ignoring everthing else I had said.

Speak to Dogs Trust, RSPCA are useful sometimes, but often not.

I would have reported this to the RSPCA by now, and would continue reporting until something was done.
Get on the phone and stop wasting time posting here.

@Sarahlou63 Within the 23 days, I had actually spoken to a police representative on their website (the live chat) and I'd also emailed a variety of council members. We'd hoped that in that time, the neighbours would get something done about the house, but clearly, they haven't! I've also posted on a different forum but no one responded. When I'm completely sleep deprived, I can't think straight and the medication I'm on makes me sluggish, so it's been a difficult few weeks.

Is the house owned, rented, council? If the house isn't theirs, then the actual owner wouldn't be thrilled that the dogs are destroying the place and probably fouling to the point where the flooring will need to be replaced.

And although they have food and shelter, I think the RSPCA draw the line at being alone in the house for weeks.

I would have broken the door down and rehomed them by day 3. (Actually they'd be cuddled up with my girl til they were calm and ready for Battersea)

Poor dogs

@regmover Thank you, I will definitely look into Dog's Trust!

@Brazenhussy0 My poor experiences with RSPCA are why I'm here asking for further help. However, I will be contacting them again, I just wanted to see if there were any alternative measures.

@WhoWants2Know The house is rented via private landlord, however we no longer have her contact details. Thank you as well!

@LaurieFairyCake Oh yes, the part of me that is worried about the dogs (the vast majority, of course) would love to do that!

I suspect the neighbours are in temporary accommodation that does not accept dogs.

Agree that you need to talk to the RSPCA. You needed to talk to them weeks ago actually, but better late than never. Poor, poor dogs.

They need to get out of there - that's so terrible ... why has this been left so long??

The OP has TRIED everyone - leave off her! And she is trying again here. She has tried every agency you have all suggested and no one is interested! She cannot break down the doors can she?

Surely if you think the RSPCA are crap then you would’ve phoned one of the other many dog rescue charities?????

Without even a google search I can think of The Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, Battersea Dogs Home, the local council dog warden, Wood Green animal shelter, specific breeds rescues I.e. Spaniel rescue, German Shepherd rescue etc etc.

Why would you leave these dogs in an awful situation because you think the RSPCA are crap?

Are you sure this isn’t just a covert dig at the RSPCA because I cannot imagine you wouldn’t have at least tried another rescue centre.

They probably are in temporary accommodation, but that's no excuse for leaving them alone and confined.

PowerPantsRule

The OP has TRIED everyone - leave off her! And she is trying again here. She has tried every agency you have all suggested and no one is interested! She cannot break down the doors can she?

What thread are you reading?

I can only see the OP talking about the RSPCA. I will give my full apologies if the OP has, as you have stated, tried every dog rescue known to man. I don’t believe she has nor that any dog rescue would think the dogs living conditions perfectly acceptable.