AIBU in feeling harassed?

[KungFuPandaWorksOut20]

In the middle of March, RSPCA had knocked on our door. They had a complaint stating an animal was lay in the window not moving they presumed the animal was dead.

Understandably RSPCA came right around. The guy was very amused in finding not a dead dog on the windowsill, but our dog happily sun bathing. My dog gave a half hearted wag of the tail, looked at him and went straight back to sunbathing and watching the world go by.

RSPCA obviously said no more action needed. So imagine my surprise 6 days later when a female RSPCA worker showed up, her attitude was absolutely horrific.

The complaint this time was a lethargic dog on the windowsill with the suspicion of the dog being drugged, because of how unresponsive it was.

I told the Lady she could happily come in and have a look at our dog, just like her colleague had.

She refused and said she can see clearly from the window that the dog looks lethargic, not active and started asking what medication I give the dog that makes him so placid.

I told her he's on no medication, he's sat chilling at the window he's hardly gonna be active when he's lay down! She told me I need to hand over the dogs vet details, and she will discuss everything with my vet, and she can do monthly check ins with my vet making sure my dogs condition improves.


I told her he had no condition, she has no right to my dogs vet records and I will not be handing them over or giving consent. She told me that's suspicious and I would make it easier on myself by giving consent, if not she will get the police to return with her, so she can remove the dog!


I told her conversation was over with, I will happily deal with another colleague but not her, I also phoned RSPCA notifying them of this, and began the complaints procedure online in regards to her.


Thursday we went out for a walk with the dog, when returning home we had missed a calling card from the RSPCA. We called, and they said the inspector on the case will call back.

It was the first gentlemen from last time, he informed us the same complaint had been put in again but apparently the complainer had gone to the window to illicit a response from him and nothing.

They had placed 4 calls within the space of 2 days, and several photos of the dog asleep on the windowsill.

He sounded apologetic, but explained his hands are tied and he can't just close the case like the past 2 times, due to the amount of phone calls and photos sent across.

He claims RSPCA sent the photos over to an independent vet and the vet is showing concern over the "lethargic demeanor" he is displaying in the photos.


He has asked for us to book him into the vets ASAP and give him the report and then he can mark this down as malicious for a year.


I'm really horrified at the thought of someone coming into my garden taking photos through my living room window.


My issue isn't with the RSPCA they are just doing their job, it's whoever is doing this. He confirmed it was the same caller!


I honestly don't know why they are being malicious and acting like this. My anxiety has been sky high since finding out, is someone watching my house? How often are they coming into my garden taking photos? Do they get photos of Myself, two children and DN?

It's not like he barks, my Husband has worked from home since the start of the pandemic. So that is definitely ruled out.


My husband has suggested just stopping him from being on the front windowsill but in my opinion that doesn't solve the issue at all!


We are looking into getting cameras, but is that even legal someone taking photos through my window? Or am I being dramatic and someone is just trying to do a good deed.

[cabingirl]

How close to the road is your window? How easily would a regular passer-by be able to notice anything in your window?

For the person reporting:

This is either - genuine concern (although possibly by someone a bit obsessive and batty) someone who sees your dog regularly but doesn't know you well enough to knock and ask if he's okay. And doesn't live near enough to see you regularly taking the dog out of the house for walks. Or see the dog getting in and out of the window for food etc. Does he sleep there at nighttime too?

Someone trying to harass you - which is more complicated because it could be for reasons connected to the dog or connected to something else. But has to be someone who is close enough to notice the dog to make an issue about it. Are you sure you don't have any past issues with neighbours?

[SchrodingersImmigrant]

Another plot twist. It's a thread by rspca to discover all the lethargic dogs because everyone knows thread like this will have plenty of pics of adorable lethargic dogs.
They are onto you all!

[cabingirl]

Also - the response by the first inspector wasn't really sufficient if you had actually been neglecting a sick dog or drugging him. You said the inspector saw him lift his head and give a half-hearted wag of the tail.

So yes, not dead and left in a window but if you reported a situation and got the news back that it's fine the dog's alive but your response was but then there's something wrong with it because it's not moving it must be sick.

The second inspector was probably annoyed that the first guy hadn't done a thorough enough check so that she had to come out and do a second one and was told to make sure that all bases were covered so that they could put the complaint to bed.

Why she didn't want to come in and check for herself is odd though. Did you have the option of calling the dog to the door so that she could see him there?

[CirclesWithinCircles]

@BlueDahlia69

I know that a principle is at stake, but seriously why not just give the RSPCA access to vet records? What's the worst that could happen? The dog really doesn't give a shit about his patient confidentiality, trust me. I would just shrug my shoulders and agree, having nothing to hide. It really doesn't seem worth the hassle of batting away their repeated requests.

They want OP to produce a Vet certification that the dog's health is fit and healthy, from the day of their visit, at OP's cost, the rspca Vet will not do the checkup.

The earliest the OP's Vet can see the dog is two weeks away, hence the delay.

It's nothing to do with the Dogs vetinary records, if only it were that simple.

Again, I don't understand how this has turned into a "vet's certificate of health" when all that is required is to get your vet to email you with details of any veterinary treatment in the past to show that it is registered with a vet and vaccinated, etc, which can then be forwarded to the RSPCA.

This is easy and quick for vets to do and is quite standard when changing insurers, for example.

Why wouldn't you do this first, as opposed to making an actual appointment at the vets in 2 weeks time and buying and setting up a camera? Its still annoying but would appear to be an obvious way to resolve the issue.

[lanthanum]

@BagORats

Put a sign in the window saying "dog is sunbathing leave it alone"

Or maybe add a note suggesting that they get in touch with you if they're concerned, so that you can let them meet the dog and be reassured that he's a healthy dog who happens to like sunbathing!

[myusernamewastakenbyme]

The RSPCA are arseholes....google 'janet the cat rspca' for more proof.

[cabingirl]

@CirclesWithinCircles

Because the OP said the male inspector when he came out the second time told her that she had to get a health check done by a vet to prove the dog is healthy and not being mistreated.

"He has asked for us to book him into the vets ASAP and give him the report and then he can mark this down as malicious for a year."

She can't just supply records because old records will not show his current state of health or whether he is being drugged by his owners.

[Hadalifeonce]

I would love to know how any vet can tell whether a dog is lethargic, dead or just resting from a photograph?

[wigglerose]

I think the person doing the reporting has something wrong with them. I hope you get the CCTV footage OP so you can report them to the police. This person will not stop. They'll report that the dog is cold, is hot, is thin, is fat and so on. It is pathological.

[KungFuPandaWorksOut20]

@cabingirl

Also - the response by the first inspector wasn't really sufficient if you had actually been neglecting a sick dog or drugging him. You said the inspector saw him lift his head and give a half-hearted wag of the tail.

So yes, not dead and left in a window but if you reported a situation and got the news back that it's fine the dog's alive but your response was but then there's something wrong with it because it's not moving it must be sick.

The second inspector was probably annoyed that the first guy hadn't done a thorough enough check so that she had to come out and do a second one and was told to make sure that all bases were covered so that they could put the complaint to bed.

Why she didn't want to come in and check for herself is odd though. Did you have the option of calling the dog to the door so that she could see him there?

The first complaint was a dead dog. So yeah the inspector did his job because he viewed the dog wasn't dead

The second person was just a dick for the sake of being a dick. Each complaint they are tweaking slightly.

[StarsonaString]

Could be jus

[ifIwerenotanandroid]

Spit it out, @StarsonaString

[PersonaNonGarter]

This is why the RSPCA has lost so much support. Demanding vet records of a healthy dog. Madness

[CSIblonde]

CCTV window sticker & fake £5 dome camera off Amazon ( no DIY needed , hang on a nail). They're trespassing on your property which could be seen as harrassment. Follow the online complaint process & also put it in writing: for legal reasons.

[singleagain22]

@PanamaPattie

Why should the OP cooperate with the RSPCA? They have no authority without your consent. The OP needs to catch the person that is harassing her. That’s the real issue here.

The OP should cooperate with the RSPCA because they are simply doing their job in investigating animal neglect.
They are not the enemy. The OP has nothing to hide.

[cabingirl]

@KungFuPandaWorksOut20

I wasn't suggesting he hadn't checked the dog wasn't dead but he didn't see your dog getting up and moving around in a more lively fashion, so when the second report came in about being sick or drugged and they looked at the result of the first home visit they couldn't immediately just write it off. If he'd been able to write down in his report "dog was jumping around, clearly fit and healthy but likes to sleep in the window" then they might not have bothered with the second visit.

But you never know - if the reporter is determined to make mischief perhaps they would have come up with something else anyway.

[IntermittentParps]

The OP should cooperate with the RSPCA because they are simply doing their job in investigating animal neglect.
They're not doing their job very well if they're relying on some 'independent vet' looking at a picture of a dog to diagnose illness/neglect, are they?

[KungFuPandaWorksOut20]

[quote cabingirl]@KungFuPandaWorksOut20

I wasn't suggesting he hadn't checked the dog wasn't dead but he didn't see your dog getting up and moving around in a more lively fashion, so when the second report came in about being sick or drugged and they looked at the result of the first home visit they couldn't immediately just write it off. If he'd been able to write down in his report "dog was jumping around, clearly fit and healthy but likes to sleep in the window" then they might not have bothered with the second visit.

But you never know - if the reporter is determined to make mischief perhaps they would have come up with something else anyway.[/quote]
It seems they are after causing a disturbance, the reporter was told of the response after the first and second visit. Now they've ramped it with more complaints and taking photos!

[Allwokedup]

Who are these busybodys who are going to such lengths to make your life difficult!??

[KungFuPandaWorksOut20]

@Allwokedup

Who are these busybodys who are going to such lengths to make your life difficult!??

That's why I've set a camera up in the hopes of catching the person taking photos. I'm guessing from what the original RSPCA guy has said, it's the same person just using different numbers.

[AriseMyPretties]

Why would someone who is genuinely concerned about the dogs welfare be phoning multiple RSPCA reports from design different phone numbers and/or utilising flying monkeys. Surely they would all be from the concerned person's own phone.

Why pretend to be multiple concerned parties to force the RSPCA to act?

In my view, this makes the reports appear to come from malice rather than concern for an animal's welfare.

[SycamoreGap]

Are the RSPCA paying for your vet check - I don’t see why you should be out of pocket when there is nothing wrong with your dog.

[Allwokedup]

@KungFuPandaWorksOut20 it just boggles my mind they wouldn’t be satisfied with the first report of lazy sunshine dog! Honestly if I saw a dog in a window I’d think it’s sunbathing.

[Aprilshowersandhail]

Could it be your postie op?

[KungFuPandaWorksOut20]

[quote Allwokedup]@KungFuPandaWorksOut20 it just boggles my mind they wouldn’t be satisfied with the first report of lazy sunshine dog! Honestly if I saw a dog in a window I’d think it’s sunbathing.[/quote]
Whoever it is, have been very clever. With each report they've tweaked it slightly. So first was suspected dead dog, then a lethargic drugged up dog. So how it was explained to me because its changing slightly each time they have to investigate, especially now because of the photos and numerous calls within a few days, thats why a vets report is being insisted upon.