Neighbours on holiday and left dog in house

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And the poor bloody animal has been crying and barking for 24 hours. She has the occasional rest but it’s pretty much constant other than that. They have form for this: worst before this recent episode was leaving the poor dog crying for 12 hours straight when they went out one time. That wasn’t the only time but was previously the worst.

They were reported and notified so they know their dog has separation anxiety. Yet this morning in the early hours the entire family fucks off on holiday - must be a holiday as they all had suitcases - and since they left, that poor dog has been crying.

Someone came in for around twenty minutes earlier today to let the dog in the garden and presumably to feed her. But then they fucked off and since then just non stop crying interspersed with barking. it’s honestly NOT annoying me - it’s making me feel so sad for the dog.

Given they had suitcases this has got to be for at least a week, I know the dog will be fed and let out for twenty minutes a day but it’s so clearly in distress! What would you do? Anything?

Someone on my estate has done this. They've left for three weeks and have someone coming to feed and water but not walk. Regular Facebook posts about it and then Horror when someone says they've left it.

Authorities and rspca won't do anything as it's not in danger and has someone seeing it. That's why there are so many bad dogs out there. Expectations for ownership are small.

I took my dog to the beach yesterday and a kid came to stroke him. Proudly tells me how his big dogs are left and the neighbour checks on them. We have only been abroad once in the last 15 years when my mum stayed with our dog as we would never do that to him. We are currently in a wigwam in wales in the rain to make sure he's happy. He's been snoring away in contentment all night.

@PrimaryBufferPanel As well as the RSPCA, make a noise complaint to the local environmental health.

This is awful and I can imagine how distressing it is for you too. Are you in a position to take the dog in? I would approach whoever is taking the dog out for 20 mins and ask if you could take the dog into your house until they return. I would also report to the RSPCA.

That poor dog. Leaving a dog on its own overnight is unacceptable even if someone is “popping in” once a day to feed it. It must be so frightened.

I just went away for a week and left my cat outside. Came back he’s happy as Larry. Animals can adapt if you let them after all they come from nature.

Dogs are not the same as cats. They are social animals. They need company.

Call the RSPCA

wtf!!!!!! You left the cat to fend for itself for a week

The dog hasn't been abandoned, someone is coming in to feed her and exercise her. Would she be better in kennels? Probably not. The issue is that the dog owners have not come to terms with having a dog, nor have they trained her properly (mind, if she is something like a cocapoo she will have inbuilt anxiety because the cross in highly-strung), nor have they thought about the sort of dog which would suit their life-style. They need a good dog-walker who will board the dog when they are away. This is expensive, however. The alternative is to take 'dog-friendly' holidays, which means staying in the UK.

DD and her DP have a dog with anxiety. They either take him with them when they go away, or board him with his dog-walker, or find a family member to come and stay if it's a short break, or messy and work-related (DD travels a lot for her job).

Neighbours are not being cruel, but they have the wrong dog for their life-style and cannot afford/do not understand that they need a more hands-on style of dog-sitter, rather than relying on a friend to come in once a day to feed/walk the dog.
Why do you not offer to dog-sit if this upsets you?

Yes. Reading this thread I'm beginning to think the RSPCA are more than useless.

You left your cat outside for the week? I hope you at least made sure your cat had access to a safe shelter, food and water.

Your cat may have been pleased to see you on your return, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t upset not to be safe in their familiar environment with their humans.

Would you still have thought it ok to leave your cat, if you’d returned home and your cat was sick or injured?

Any pet owner should be aware that when they take on a pet, it is their responsibility to provide them with care, shelter and to meet their basic needs. This doesn’t stop when you need to, or choose to be away from home for an extended period of time. This doesn’t mean leaving them to fend for themselves or having inadequate care provided for 10 minutes or so a day. If you truly care for your pet(s) you would ensure that whoever cares for them in your absence will spend quality time with your pet(s) and meet all their needs.

Can you report a noise complaint to the council, and see if that sparks any action?

This is so distressing. The poor, poor dog.

I would catch the person who is coming for twenty mins a day and explain that the poor dog is in serious distress and ask if it would be possible for you to have the dog until the owners return, or for you to pop in as well and take the dog out for a bit etc.

I would call the RSPCA separately too, but first and foremost I would want to speak to the person coming to the house every day.

That's awful. I would call the RSPCA 🤬

I would call RSPCA too.

Try the dog warden - they have various powers depending on which council they serve. The main bulk of their work is strays but they can issue fines and deal with pet related noises. They usually have strong ties to the local police force too and they work alongside rescues and the RSPCA.

It's worth a shot.

All of this.

There has been much mention of the RSPCA.

They wear uniforms, have ranks (eg inspectors, superintendents) and issue cautions like the police. They have an illusion of authority that helps with voluntary compliance.

They do not have police powers, they do not have a statutory right of entry, they have no more power than you or I.

That's really awful.
Poor poor dog.

Surely they are breaking noise laws? The noise of the barking would really disturb me- barking dogs , especially an abandoned dog is very distressing.

RSPCA are useless- I have reported {as did many others} a dog chained up in a scrap yard -He was never walked, the RSPCA Chap said ''Dog has a barrel to shelter in, food and water- it's not illegal to keep a dog chained 24/7 365 days a year, unfortunately''

I offered to walk the dog so many times, it was refused.
He got more and more aggressive with frustration as the years went by, his chain polished smooth with dragging across the ground.

A Border Collie X.
A dog with that intelligence chained for life.

It was so bad.

The RSPCA won't do anything. They will send somebody to tape the door but if the tape is broken and somebody was left to feed the dog no law has been broken. There is no law that says you can't leave a dog overnight. As long as the animals has access to water and is fed regularly then there's nothing at all they can do. They won't bother with cases they can't take to court and win because it's a massive waste of resources.

My neighbour left her dog for a week with people calling in twice a day. The dog had a dog flap so could get in the house and access to a Wendy house/play house in the garden. Somebody called the RSPCA (a really drunk woman who later stole vodka from my house!) and when the man arrived he taped the door, said he knew the seal would be broken as people had clearly been coming and going and he could see an outdoor bowl of water etc over my fence. Dog was fine.

People like you shouldn’t have animals

That's so sad

RSPCA can do nothing, I’ve been there before. The police won’t break in unless it is evident the animal is in immediate danger.

All you can do is make a noise complaint but I’ve also done that before about dogs and not much can be done.