Did anyone see the above programme on BBC 1 last night.  Apart from the usual sewerage and rats storyline, there was bit about a lady living in a high rise flat with 6 dogs.  3 were yorkshire terrier type and the other three GSD's.  None of them were house trained.  The owner had her own problems and seemed to have learning difficulties, apparent by the fact that this had been an ongoing problem for the council for 28 yrs.  She had several of her previous dogs removed and they showed a before and after pic of one yorkie who had to be shaved and put in a babygro to keep in warm as he was in such a bad condition when rescued.  These dogs were not taken out to go to the toilet and so the smell in the flat was unbearable and they showed huge puddles of pee and poo just sat on the carpets, as well as a carpet soaking in the bath - yuk!  They managed to take two of the smaller dogs for rescue but she would not permit the larger dogs to go. 

It was very very sad.  Not only for the dogs but the owner too who was obviously unable to adapt her behaviour or improve the care she gave her animals, despite a kind of devotion to them.  She seemed to take in any dog that was given to her.

How difficult is it to rehome dogs like that?  Dogs that can reach 7yrs of age without ever having been housetrained or exercised or socialised properly?

I am sure they will revisit this next week.

Hi,

I saw the programme as well and was quite disgusted by it yet I love the programme :-) its "car crash tv". I dont understand why the authorities cannot do something about the person in question and prevent her from getting any more dogs. As you say, she obviously has learning difficulties and probably has enough probs looking after herself, let alone all those dogs. I am not condemning her, just the crazy country that we live in and that it is allowed to happen. I thought people that lived in council blocks were evicted if they broke the "no pet rule"? Perhaps they have no where that is suitable for her :-(
People do rehome dogs that are older and not toilet trained, socialised properly etc, but it is a lot harder and they have to have the love patience of a saint. It breaks my heart and makes me sooo angry Also imagine the discomfort of those poor dogs having to lay in their own mess all of the time, we all know that dogs will mess away from the nest if at all possible, but that place was covered in it!!
I used to help out an old lady (neighbour) who had 3 poodles and they were the same, she never let them out and they would just walk around the house cocking their legs and defecating all day and whenever you told her about it she would just roll her eyes and get out a tissue that was kept up her sleeve and pick the offending item up or rub the pee off the carpet and then...........wait for it, put it back up her sleeve YUKK!! What a sad world we live in.

This lady is never going to be able to take care of animals in the way that they need to be cared for, despite her best intentions.  If they rehome her in a house with a garden then the house will quickly fall into a state of disrepair and she will fill every available space up with animals as we have seen on similar TV programmes many times before.

I think you are right hairypooch, it is a crazy world that lets this sort of thing go in self-perpetuating circles.  The owner needs lots of help and support in her own right and letting her keeps animals is no good for anyone.  I am sure there is nowhere they can house her where the problem will just disappear, it will rear it's ugly head in a different way. The council should have enough sense to think laterally about the problem and come up with a more acceptable solution for them all.