Saturday, November 21, 2009

Howling Distress


Not me, the dog that lives behind me. There are two dogs who, over the years they've lived there, have spent most of their lives outside. It is a big yard, but it is a yard. And they're out there all.the.time. Normally, they bark at anything that moves. In the summer when we have the windows open it gets really annoying. But people have talked to the owner and he just blows them off. (He's a really big scary-biker looking kind of guy).

Now one of the dogs has started howling. It is so pitiful. I am sitting in my office on the far side of the house. The windows are all closed (it's cold outside) and I can still hear it. Last night we had our home group meeting here and they could all hear it.

Now, because the owner is a big scary-biker looking kind of guy and police reports are public information and because I'm here alone at the house a lot, I feel somewhat intimidated about reporting this.

It makes me sad for the dogs that their human cares so little about their welfare. I mean really, why have the dogs if you're just going to leave them out back all day and into the night?

Anyone with ideas? LEGAL ideas? I need some help on this one!

7 comments:

Catherine said...

We have similar problems from time to time in our neighborhood. I'll never understand why people don't realize that their dogs, when left out in the yard, bark more when no one is home.

In our town, we are allowed to call in a complaint directly to Animal Control while remaining anonymous -- is there any way that you could do that rather than call the police?

SouthLakesMom said...

I'm going to try! My dad suggested I should call the Shelter because they'll know the rights of all involved. He's pretty smart!

Anonymous said...

If it were me I would start by talking to your neighbor directly. Maybe he will listen to you. Looks can be deceiving you know :)

Susan at Stony River said...

I agree with Thom (woo, that's weird). My family and friends are full of bikers, very nice ones LOL and appearances can be deceiving. I'd just be super sweet about it but let him know it's a problem. The poor dogs might just be losing their mind with boredom, who knows?

Reston Friends! said...

The dogs have been barking for a couple of years, with other people on his street talking to him, with no result...so I'm a little hesitant.

He has 'growled' at kids in the area as well, so again...

I kinda think if he treats his animals like that, he probably doesn't care too much what the neighbors think either.

But I'll think on it some more.

Charlene Amsden said...

I think calling the animal shelter for advice is a good option. It can't hurt.

SouthLakesMom said...

Well, I split the difference. I wrote him a "nice" letter and put it in his mailbox today. I'll see how it goes and if it still continues, I'll call the shelter for the next step. Why haven't I called them already? Because they have the weirdest hours and I never seem to hit them right! So I thought this was a good first step...especially since last night the howling was so bad my daughter couldn't concentrate on her homework and today it was going on all day. It's been raining here for 24 hours so you know the dogs are just miserable.