Fouling neighbour derailing our future plans!

[UglyBoy19]

DHs house has finally got a buyer (low offer but c’est la vie). His tenant is moving out before Xmas. Last year when I was heavily pregnant we spent thousands doing it up and tried to sell it, but the market was stagnant and we had to relet it for another 12 months.
Our big problem is the reclusive neighbour next door and his bull mastiff and huskie dogs. We’ve had a few issues, but mainly it’s the Piles and piles of faeces in plastic bags or Unbagged littering his garden and the smell wafting over. The neighbour doesn’t go out much or walk the dogs sufficiently and they jump up at the window and scare passersby. DH has been on at him to clean up the weeks old dog shit for the sake of his tenant and her young daughter and also for our house viewings and with a lot of polite pestering and reminders, he has cleared it up in advance of viewings. Now that the For Sale sign has gone up, he’s let the shite pile up worse than ever and the tenant has sent us a picture and wants us to report him. He has mental health issues, takes strong medication and has a social worker who comes round to ‘plant lavendar’ with him. I frequently tow the line between really feeling sorry for him but also wanting to punch him and his horrible dogs in the face.
We need to sell this property and then Mine so we can have a nice family home with a garden for our son. We currently have a shared yard in a dodgy area ; we can’t afford to lose our buyer and put our life on hold plus obviously we would like to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday. What should we do?

[contrmary]

I'm not sure that wanting to punch his "horrible dogs in the face" will be very helpful. Your best bet is to get the RSPCA involved, perhaps they will be able to take the dogs away and fingers crossed they will get put down.

[makingmammaries]

And for those saying “poor dogs”, note that interventionism with animals as with children can lead to very bad outcomes. Seriously, I despair of these people who jump to conclusions on the basis of one day’s worth of poo in his OWN GARDEN.

[makingmammaries]

If that is one day’s worth of poo then no, it does not count as abuse. If the dogs are given food, water and shelter and not subjected to violence, you would be wasting your time involving the RSPCA. It’s fine to want to sell the house, and fine to be irritated by the neighbour. That’s how it is living cheek by jowl with strangers. But the neighbour is not breaking any laws and deserves to be left alone.

[sundowners]

It would 100% put me off buying a house- most non-dog owners smell that "dog smell" ie. wet fur the moment we walk into a house with dogs and their shit is literally one of the worst, probably worst smell in the world. Dog owners get used to it/don't notice it but if you dont have a dog its awful. I know I'd definitely smell the wafts of even those poo's lying around on his patio all day and I'd definitely not want to live in close proximity to it, its just vile.

[UglyBoy19]

The tenant has been there for 6 months.

[2bazookas]

I'd do whatever it takes to avoid the buyer pulling out. Just bite the bullet, get round there and clean up the dog shit until your tenant moves out and the sale completes.

It's not fair but it's temporary and solves all your problems .

[Higgeldypiggeldy35]

The dogs aren't living in a safe environment with all that faeces so call the RSPCA and they will do a welfare call. Send them some photos for evidence. Sounds like your neighbour needs help. If they don't feel he is adequately caring for the dogs they can take them off him.

[KarmaStar]

Poor dogs.speak to the dogs protection or rspca for advise,are the dogs well fed?they deserve a much better home than that.The yard looks small,though you say there's extra space,that isn't much poo for 3? Large dogs.
Also try the council they may have some advice.
Hope you get sold ok and the dogs are rehomed to a lovely now home.

[TheSeedsOfADream]

How do you know all this about him if you only spoke to the landlady at 7 this morning?

[Escapedtothecountry]

I have to tell you, from experience the council will do very little about this except perhaps "advise" your neighbour. As far as the council is concerned your neighbour is vulnerable and they will treat him as such. They will not rehome him, they have no need to, he has a home and he will remain your neighbour. You could ask the dog warden to step in but that is the best you can hope for. Could you raise the height of the fence? If so, do it. Dont bother asking for any money just do it.
Good Luck
Been there

[RobertaTheGreat]

Anyone who thinks the RSPCA would do anything about this has obviously never had dealings with them.

[Yorkshiremummyof1]

I've used 25 bags for two dogs before in one day. Mainly because the spaniel likes to walk as she poos and its a nightmare!

[SD1978]

I'm confused by your post. You already have a buyer, and your tenant has been forced to live next door to this already for several years, without your husband doing anything about it. Now with 2 months to go- you're asking if it's council, RSOCA, or who because you feel sorry for the tenant- who is gone through years of dog shite issues. Why is it now, suddenly, an issue when it should have been since the beginning?

[LagunaBubbles]

OP isn't living there anyway; she is worried about her own financial gain

And whats wrong with that?

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

Jesus are there people just letting their dogs shit in their garden and not clearing it all day?! That is vile.

[UglyBoy19]

Yes it’s a shame that he basically has one job - look after his 2 dogs and he doesn’t do that. 3 bed terrace privately owned, rent covered by housing benefit / disability benefit. The police have been involved before because of the size of the dogs being agggresive to passeraby but they can’t follow up on welfare stuff . Landlady has been informed today of the fouling, council will be called for advice today and if they recommend RSPCA we will follow up with them. I would be surprised if a neighbour hasn’t already called the RSPCA - they bark at night apparently and he never seems to walk them. Thanks for the advice everyone. We’ve been so nicey nicey with this guy for over a year and we’ve had it with him now. Doesn’t care about his neighbours, doesn’t care about his dogs.

[Dinocan]

And yes it’s cruel to the dogs if he doesn’t walk them. Accident waiting to happen. The whole situation sounds a bloody disaster and I would be reporting the rspca too.

[Dinocan]

That is just awful, and will certainly put buyers off. He sounds just like my neighbour op. Do you know if its his house or a LA? We had to report ours to the council because the garden and rubbish was getting out of control, although no dogs. I felt absolutely awful about it but it’s a health hazard for him and those around. It sounds like your neighbour has more support than mine. I’ve never seen a social worker but I know he has a ‘housing support officer’ who’s job seems to be to come round and tell him to do x,y and z, none of which are within his capabilities. It infuriates me that a single man has been given a 2 bed council house with a garden that he simply can’t manage and doesn’t need.

[UglyBoy19]

That is one days worth of poo. Honestly that’s NOTHING - I counted 15 Tesco bags last summer. There is some further space down the end of the garden that he doesn’t use for the dogs. That’s all they get. He doesn’t work - sleeps during the day. He doesn’t walk them much if at all, that’s probably why they are fretful at the window . Think we’ll call the landlady first then Environmental Health. I don’t like the dogs - I just want The tenants happy and safe from dog mess and to get rid of this house to provide for my son, not as easy as ‘financial gain’ thanks.

[GoldfishParade]

Why have you sat back for over a year and allowed animals to be abused while you did nothing?
Get on the phone to the RSPCA today.

[TweeBree]

Call the council and tell them you've seen rats. They will act on that.

[hulahoopqueen]

@makingmammaries not a dog owner admittedly, but that looks like a fair bit of poo for one day, even for 2(?) dogs? Besides which surely dogs of that size would need a good walk at least once a day, and if the owner is “not in a position to clear it immediately” (from the OP it sounds as though this man does not work, though that may be incorrect) then he may not be in a position to do the walks either, which is definitely detrimental to the dogs’ health

[Charleyhorses]

Honestly if you have a buyer just keep your fingers crossed. You are not going to change his behaviour. Rspca are not going to take the dogs away just cos there is muck in the garden and it jumps at the window.

[makingmammaries]

"They are allowed to poo, but the owner should be clearing it up so it isn’t causing a nuisance to the neighbours. My dog does one and it stinks, even if that’s only from one day there is enough for it to bother the neighbours who didn’t sign up for a dog."

Not everybody is in a position to clear up every bit of dog poo immediately. The law here (not UK) says it has to be done daily. I do it more often than that, but nobody follows their dogs around constantly with a scoop. The photo OP posted does not look as extreme as what she describes. OP isn't living there anyway; she is worried about her own financial gain. I don't know if there are dog welfare issues here or not, but calling the RSPCA over fears of losing profit is not a very nice thing to do.