Hi guys

The neighbour 2 doors down is a yob with an entire male Bull Mastiff.  He has always left it out in the garden in all weathers, from when we were 5 or six degrees below freezing, to pouring rain and storms.  Obviously it barks all day and all night to the point it is losing it's voice.  I believe he is a drug dealer or worse, his name is Crim and our local police have said they know him well.

When the weather first started with the hard frost my OH rang the RSPCA and they said they wouldn't go round unless WE could prove it has no shelter.  I can't see if it has access to shelter from 2 doors down, I just know it is misrable as every time I go into my garden it hangs it's head over the hedge and barks at me, not in a rabid way but if it is asking for help.

Now we hear rumours that the guy is in prison again, that his mates have smashed a window at the back and have taken over the place. We certainly see several yobs a day turning up and leaving in quick sucession.

Last night my OH ran into the daughter of the neighbour the other side of this dog.  She says there is also a small dog in there and that the 2 of them just curl up in the grass each night. She feeds them through the fence and says they are very skinny. 

Well she has phoned the RSPCA every day for the last 10 days and all they do is log her calls.  I'm thinking now who else can I call, do the breed rescues have any powers to remove dogs from property's.  This dog needs help and no-one seems to care :(  Any ideas??

Have you tried the local dog warden? I feel so sorry for those poor dogs :-(  I think its appalling thet YOU were asked to prove there is no shelter especially given the type of person the dogs are owned by, I hope to god someone will listen and help.

try enviramental health. they tackle anti social noise etc and may be able to talk to rspca and get more responce then public phone call.
is the house local authority?  again they may have more sway with rspca.

Ring the local paper, explain the situation, and ask one of their reporters to ring the RSPCA.
Jeff.

Good suggestion Jeff and one most likely to make the PR conscious RSPCA move. It is extraordinary that they would not even investigate a case like this. Perhaps the owners in this instance present too much of a challenge unlike say the mentally ill or the elderly?

I reported almost exactly these circumstances at an appalling breeders to the RSPCA, they took 3 months to go round, declared the dog to "be in good body". He was obtained within the next 2 weeks, a large breed dog matted solid and 18kg, (should weigh 28-30kg), had to be reintroduced to food very carefully. He was used at stud the day I got him and the litter registered. This lovely boy had a good outcome, how many don't?
I agree with Jeff, go for the threat of publicity.

Thanks for your advice guys

I decided to ring the national number for the RSPCA rather than the local branch and ask why this dog wasn't getting help.  I actually spoke to a very nice lady who said that as I couldn't really see into the garden that the best way forward was environmental health.  She said as part of their procedures for investigating the barking was to inspect the dog itself and to view it's living conditions, water availability, etc.  Then once the poor condition has been seen then they call the RSPCA to come in.  A pity the local branch couldn't have given us that information a month ago.  I'll ring them tomorrow and hopefully this poor dog will be rescued soon, it'll be a weight off my mind that's for sure.

> He was obtained within the next 2 weeks, a large breed dog matted solid and 18kg, (should weigh 28-30kg), had to be reintroduced to food very carefully. He was used at stud the day I got him and the litter registered.

Do you mean whoever rescued him built him up being letting you have him?  I did not think rescue dogs were placed with registration docs.  How were you able to assess him before using him, temperament, health screening etc?  Or do you mean the breeder used him the day he was taken?  I am sure I must be missing something from this story

He was obtained within the next 2 weeks, a large breed dog matted solid and 18kg, (should weigh 28-30kg), had to be reintroduced to food very carefully. He was used at stud the day I got him and the litter registered.

I may be reading this wrong, but are you saying that you used a dog that had been rescued from appalling conditions, was very underweight the day you got him? How on earth did you do any health tests.

I think Carole must mean that the breeder the dog was rescued from used him just before he was rescued (I think!)

>I may be reading this wrong, but are you saying that you used a dog that had been rescued from appalling conditions, was very underweight the day you got him?

I'm assuming he was used at stud by his previous owner shortly before he was 'obtained'? Seems odd.

> He was obtained within the next 2 weeks, a large breed dog matted solid and 18kg, (should weigh 28-30kg), had to be reintroduced to food very carefully. He was used at stud the day I got him and the litter registered.

I'm assuming he was used at stud by his previous owner shortly before he was 'obtained'?

Ah... yes, that does make more sense.

personally id be round to that garden in dead of night, with a slip lead and a torch!! he wouldnt be there by morning!!

I actually spoke to a very nice lady who said that as I couldn't really see into the garden that the best way forward was environmental health.  She said as part of their procedures for investigating the barking was to inspect the dog itself and to view it's living conditions, water availability, etc.  Then once the poor condition has been seen then they call the RSPCA to come in

Unfortunately this isn't the case at all. If a neighbour reports a barking dog, they get sent a sheet of paper on which to note all the times they hear the dog bark over the next 14 days. If the council then after a meeting decides it appears to be over the top, they will then ask the complaining neighbour if they want listening equipment installed. If the answer is yes, after some further time this is done, left in for a while. Then removed, then another meeting is held with the noise being listened to. I.e. it all takes weeks and weeks and at NO time do environmental health check the dog is well cared for, they are only interested in the noise. I was reported 8 times by spiteful neighbours (they were lying) and at no point did anyone come to check our dogs or even look into our garden over the fence.

Does this monster own the house or is it rented by him, if so landlord may be one way to go.
Chris

> at no point did anyone come to check our dogs or even look into our garden over the fence.

I think I'll have to ask them when I ring, I'll be so disapointed if she lied to me.  If I get the impression they will not help I'll try the breed rescue as well.

It is a rented house but not through an agency, the elderly owner died just before I moved here and there was just a sign in the window with a ph no. which I had no reason to take note of.  The neighbour in between us is 92 and very frail.

It's not a safe option for me to take it in the night as it is an incredibly big dog, very unsocialised and as there is no access to the garden it would need to be lifted out.

I really don't understand why the RSPCA can't just come out.  I've watched them on TV and they come out if a birds nest is disturbed or if a young hedgehog is found.  When they talk to the camera they say things like, 'we've just had this call about.....'.   I don't think I've ever heard them say, 'We had this call 4 weeks ago and we're going to check it out now' !!

I don't think I've ever heard them say, 'We had this call 4 weeks ago and we're going to check it out now' !!

they never do do they i phoned them a long time ago about 2 staffies who where being kept in cages and being bread every time the bitch came into season n they did nothing the owners stil have the staffies

so sad that they wont do anything quickly surely if the owner is in prison and there is no one to care for the dogs that would make them come out

i oftern watch the programs about the rspca in america the new york offerciers have so much more power should be the same over here
hope this poor dog gets the help he needs soon

> i phoned them a long time ago about 2 staffies who where being kept in cages and being bread every time the bitch came into season n they did nothing the owners stil have the staffies

They can only act where laws are being broken and unfortunately this is not against the law. 

If you dont have to tell the rspca who you are, then just say they havent got any shelter, as least it will get them there to see what is going on.

Yes poor fella , he was used by the slime who owned him that morning! I do not know who was the sickest, the owner or the person who paid the stud fee!

Environmental services wont check the dogs living conditions...the RSPCA must attend! Try asking the council to ring them for you...i do this in my job :)

He was used at stud the day I got him and the litter registered.



It says that he was used at stud the day I got him!!!

ps, how easily one can be misunderstood!, I got him in the afternoon, in the morning he covered a bitch

whats happening with this poor dog

Hi Mollaholland

A couple of days ago I noticed lights on in the neighbours house and also although the dog is still there it's barking is much reduced and has lost the desperate sound.  There are lights there again tonight and the dog has only barked a bit when it's heard me take my dogs into the garden.  I'm not sure if it is the owner there or someone else as I have not seen anyone go in but as I type this my house has started shaking with the bass from the car of one of his yobby friends so it must be him.

Have spoken to the noise control and was pretty gutted to find out that the RSPCA blatently lied to me about them checking the dog out.  As I'm an honest person myself it doesn't really occur to me that others are not always the same, I feel pretty stupid for believing them.  Noise control did say that there is already an existing complaint regarding the barking from another neighbour which is on-going.

Now as there is someone there and the dog does not seem so distressed I don't think there is enough for me to complain again (between me, my OH and the neighbour we have complained 12 times).  It's not a great place for the dog to be but the only issue left is the shelter which I can't prove and the RSPCA refuse to investigate. I think I'll just have to keep my eye on things, if the dog starts to sound distressed again I'll take my complaint to the police.

If the guy is in prison then it could be said that the dogs  have been abandoned .
Just because someone has possibly broken a window to gain access doesn't mean that they are being fed/watered/sheltered .

well i hope he is getting looked after keep us posted please

I hope things have improved, the lack of noise from the dog could simply be that he knows that barking does not bring attention. It is very common to find that neglected dogs are completely silent, they need all their energy to survive.