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...)

If they are fed and watered by a daily visitor then RSPCA will not be interested

What breed of dogs are they op?

@Buster72 That was my thought process too, but the people I've spoken to at the RSPCA agree with and the case is open. I've just got off the phone with them again, to add the new information and the woman said she'd added a note to the inspector who's been assigned to the matter. So, I guess it's a good sign that it is open.

@simplepimple I'm not entirely sure because I only know some dog breeds, but I think they're some sort of crosses. I honestly couldn't say with any conviction, even with the photos, they just look like medium to large dogs to me.

I think you're going at it from the wrong direction.

The dogs are sheltered, fed and watered with someone coming in daily to check on them. I've seen boarding kennels where that is accepted as a minimum. It's not ideal, but they are cared for and that's all the RSPCE will really be interested in.

You need to go at it from the noise aspect. Contact your councils Environmental Health department and get someone from noise abatement to listen to the noise from the dogs. It won't be a fast process but I really don't think you'll get far with the RSPCA.

@AdobeWanKenobi the house has been on fire, it hasn't been repaired, so the dogs have been left for nearly a month in a house that will undoubtedly have smoke damage. Smoke damage kills. Both times I have phoned the RSPCA now have shown me that those reps agree with me. I understand what you're saying and I hope this doesn't come out as rude or argumentative, I'm just saying it from the perspective of animal abuse because it is still that.
We've got a noise complaint response from the council and I've been filling it in, will need to send it back in a few days but I'm now hoping the RSPCA will jump on this case sooner (I have heard that the council can take a long time to reply to here things).

Have you been inside then @Geobat to know the how bad the conditions actually are? The dogs could be in a room that was untouched by the fire and with little to no smoke damage.

Where are you OP? Hopefully mumsnetters local to you can offer support to you, thank you for caring about these animals.

@AdobeWanKenobi, we've not been inside but we saw the kitchen damage when the firefighters were dealing with it. A firefighter also told us what had happened when he came into our house to investigate the smoke we were getting upstairs from their house.
These houses are tiny and smoke spreads a lot (my mum's house had a fire when I was younger and any smoke was a risk, so we were moved to temporary accommodation while the house was repaired). The kitchen and living room are very close and there's no doubt the smoke will have spread in there. The dogs are in the living room area, I know this because I can hear where they are howling and barking from.

@Brumchum Thank you very much for that :) I live in Birmingham (I assume you do too based o your username?), specifically the New Frankley/Rednal area.

I am in Brum but sadly in north east (Great Barr) hope someone nearer sees this. Have you tried your councillor? He may be involved with helping the family but needs to be aware of your issues too.

See what I would do is tell a white lie..

I'd tell the rspca that they're abandoned and not being visited. That way they will have to send someone out to check on their welfare and if something needs to be done they'll do it

Just claim you haven't seen the neighbors

Bobbybear10

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

Yes, but do any of the other charities you mentioned have any powers to remove the dogs?

(I haven't been overly impressed by the RSPCA either actually.)

Any progress?

Hey everyone, sorry about the disappearing act. I've had a few hospital appointments and haven't had much time to come online.

So, it's been 8 days since my initial report to the RSPCA, and 31 days since the dogs were first left in the house.

I've spoken to the RSPCA more than once, and every time the phone rep agreed that I was doing the right thing.

Now, onto my "progress", I've not been contacted by the RSPCA since I rang them (on Thursday if I remember correctly) and the dogs are still in the house.

However, I have just received a text from the neighbour. I've taken a screenshot and will add it to this post (I'm not sure how images appear on here).

I feel like I'm going insane. If the RSPCA did indeed visit them, and deemed the situation "okay" then I feel like there's nothing else I can do. I can't imagine an RSPCA inspector using those words about someone who was concerned about the health of the dogs, but who knows. It's probably just the neighbour making things up.

Thank you all for your help, but it seems like a losing battle. I dread to think how the dogs' are doing with their health now, they've been breathing in the fire damage for a month now.

Once I stop feeling so angry, I'm going to phone the RSPCA again and ask for confirmation about the visit and the result as well.

Oh and for any reference, this was the text I originally sent them after we'd sent the letter through their door.

Not once have I spoken to them in a rude manner, I also haven't resorted to "name calling".

I've not responded to their text just yet, I'm going to wait until I've contacted the RSPCA again. I'm currently still shaking (when my anxiety properly kicks in, it sets off a few things, one being nervous shakes, another being my (currently undiagnosed but seems to be) diverticulitis which runs in the family)), needless to say, the RSPCA call is onhold for the moment.

Okay, I've just got off the phone with the RSPCA again and the woman confirmed that the case is still listed as open (meaning an inspector/officer is still assigned to the complaint), and that he/she would not have disclosed who made the report. The neighbours know it was us simply because of the contact prior, but yeah, I believe that the officer wouldn't have said who made the complaint.

The neighbours came home this morning, and left about an hour ago.
They've left the dogs again.
Now, Ifif the officer did indeed go out to visit them (the neighbour may even be making up the visit after seeing a card left by them), and the case is listed as still open, then I'm sure they've not responded appropriately.
The dogs were also fighting a moment ago, I didn't get to record the noises because my phone wasn't near me at the time, by the time I did get to it, they'd stopped. Now they're howling instead.

I’m not sure what else you can do. Hopefully someone else will come along with some advice. But well done for trying.

@IPromiseIWontBeNaughty Thank you! As the case is still open, I'm just hoping the RSPCA will resolve all of this.
If not, I am going to take up the advice of one of the previous posters here and get in contact with the local news.

I feel so bad for the dogs having owners like that, they're too busy being defensive.

I am sure your local newsroom will be very interested op.
We are all behind you yet also appreciate it's you in the firing line for abuse. Those ddogs need you op!!
You need to take this to the end for them.

You've done nothing wrong OP, and yes dog owner seems very defensive, landlord seems like a waste of space too. Hope you're keeping up the noise diary and keeping your local councillor updated.
Agree dog owner is making it up about being told about your complaints and probably lying about the RSPCA visit.

@Santaisfastasleepatlast thank you so much for the support, it genuinely brought a tear to my eye. This is very difficult and I'm on the verge of tears.
The neighbour has just argued in my texts, I've replied in a lawful manner (to my knowledge, I'm not arguing or name calling)

My final send off in the message is that I'm going to leave it in the hands of the RSPCA and that I've kept a record of everything. (He's threatened us with the police because apparently we're "harassing" them).
I've made no threats. I could send screenshots of the conversation, but I'm worried about spam.

@Brumchum Thank you! The neighbour told us in the messages that apparently they've had 4 visits from the RSPCA over the years prior to this. Those reports were not from us (I think I did phone them once, asking for help with the continuous barking), but we 100% did not make those reports. He claims we did and that the RSPCA officer phoned to confirm it. Clearly a lie, especially since it wasn't us, but also, I'm pretty sure that would be a breach of data protection. He also claims to have recorded the call, I doubt that very much.

I've stopped replying to him, but if the police do get involved, I've kept record of everything. I even have photos of the fence damage that has been done, and when the dogs got into our garden (again), and defecated multiple times in our garden (again).

I feel so exhausted with all of this!

(He's threatened us with the police because apparently we're "harassing" them).
Don't rise to his bait OP if he put as much effort into sorting out the dogs as he does abusing you I'd have some sympathy for his situation.

@Brumchum these screenshots show the last of the conversation. I'm trying to keep as level headed as possible, I don't feel like anything I've said is rude, offensive or threatening. My last response in the screenshots are the last I've said, as I don't want to rise to the bait (as you recommended as well).
I would have more sympathy as well, if he wasn't being so immature and cruel about the whole thing!

Oops, I accidentally left in a messenger bubble, oh well. I've also not disclosed my name in the messages, or which of us is replying to them (it's actually not my partner Paul so he assumed incorrectly).