So my sister called me this morning and asked me a "What would you do ?" question. I didn't have much of an answer for her, so I thought I'd ask here at Momsview.

Back a few weeks ago when I was at her house for a family reunion, we were sitting on her back deck trying to enjoy the company while her neighbor's dog was barking the entire time. He was tied to the trampoline in the back yard, in 90 degree heat, with no water. My sister called her neighbor to ask nicely if she would let the dog inside, but noone was home.

My sister-in-law, a major dog lover, took a bowl of water over to the dog. the dog growled at her, and she left (of course). We were very annoyed that the owners would leave the dog outside when they went away, let alone in the 90 degree heat. Stupid.
So when they got home, my sister went over and talked to the neighbor about that. Apparently it was a new dog and for some reason they didn't trust it in the house alone. Whatever.

Now, my sister said that few nights ago the dog was outside barking at 11:00 p.m. My sister called the house, no body home. She left a kind message on the machine about the dog barking. She never heard anything from the neighbor, no apology or anything. Again, a night or so later around 8:00-8:30, the time my nephew goes to bed the dog was out barking again. No, it was not late but my nephew was still up at 9:30 because of the dog. Again my sister called, again they were not home, again she left a message. Again she heard nothing from the neighbor.
Her question to me was "what do you think the next step is?"

I told her that next time she sees the neighbor outside she should go over and talk to her. See if they can put the dog in the basement or something while they are gone, if they can not trust it in the house. Or just give it back to where ever it came from. She does not want to have to call the police on her neighbor but I think if this keeps up, she might have to.

It's just so rude to leave your dog outside while you go away. And especially rude to ignore my sister's message!

What do you think?

By Jackie on Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 04:27 pm:

I would call the local police and see if anything can be done.
In our town, they don't give out tickets for this, but they will leave a letter/note about being a nusiance(sorry if I spelled that wrong). If they think the dog is not being taken care of the police can do something about that.

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 04:36 pm:

I'd keep a log and call the police. Not only is the dog disturbing the peace, but it also sounds like a case of abuse/neglect.

By Yjja123 on Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 05:18 pm:

It is a noise ordinance. I would call and report it. They will give them a warning first.
I think your sister needs to stop calling them and let the police handle it.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 06:13 pm:

Calling the police or animal control. That's why we used a crate INSIDE the house, when Jasmine was new.

By Nicki on Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 07:11 pm:

Patty, you might want to suggest she talk to some of her other neighbors, as well. We had this nightmare of a problem years ago. Animal control came out once, yet nothing changed. I was told they need at least three neighbors to complain before they would really take action. In our case, things never did get better. We finally moved out to the country! I feel so sorry for this poor dog. How cruel to leave it tied up in the heat and late at night. He's probably very lonely.

By Bellajoe on Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 09:26 pm:

She said she was going to talk to her other neighbor about it, on the other side of her. She does not know the people on the other side of the dog people, so she feels funny talking to them about it.

I agree that if it happens again, she should call the police.

By Mrsheidi on Friday, August 1, 2008 - 05:44 pm:

Ugh. Why even *have* a dog if you're not going to be home most of the time??? They can always crate the dog when they're gone for 2-3 hours (some people do it longer). I think it's inhumane to have a dog out there like that, especially in the heat, and I'm one that completely disagrees with tying a dog to anything and leaving them unattended...that's just cruel. They can get themselves tied up very easily and then much worse can happen.

I would call animal control and have the # on speed dial so she doesn't have to keep looking up the number. If that doesn't work, I'd call the police as well.

By Bellajoe on Saturday, August 2, 2008 - 08:36 am:

That's what had happened, heidi. His lead was wrapped around something so tight that he could not get to his water bowl in that heat.

Hopefully her phone calls helped because she hasn't had a problem with it for a few days.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, August 2, 2008 - 08:50 am:

Bellajoe, that poor baby. I'm glad the people have been better.

By Debbie on Saturday, August 2, 2008 - 09:55 pm:

This just drives me crazy. I don't understand why people get pets and then don't take care of them, or spend time with them.

If I were your sister, I would just call and report it if it happens again. Hopefully, because of her phone calls, they will start taking care of the poor dog!