Not sure if this is the right section for this.

I received a letter from the council about 10 days ago regarding my neighbours complaining about dog poo in the garden and surrounding areas. Also a smell from the dog run.
Many of you will have read the posts before about neighbours harrassing me. Since moving in have had dead rats put in garden, glass in the dog run and back path, foul language, being watched constsntly so much so I do not use the garden, neighbours dog pooing on door step and out side of the property and my dogs getting blamed. Farmers gate getting left open and me being blamed although I have picture of my neighbour doing it in the mornings. also pics of her dog pooing and her not picking it up, pics of dead rats etc.

Now this letter, have today seen the council are back out with my neighbours. Here I have one property next door with an old lady in and another property at the side of the garden wherethe other neighbours house is although they have yet to move in. The farmer also pops down to do his sheep and so they have all ganged up. Am now worried that having seen them out again it will end up in court and need advice.

Have been told by a friend to get an harrassment order but don't really want to. I have contacted council about the old lady's dog barking all night and also the RSPCA as the dog sleeps on wet mud on the end of a chain it does have shelter but that too has a floor of wet mud!!!

What is best for me to do........I do know that whatever I do I will not win as I have no one to back me up on anything they do. this house could be a palace and the garden featured in chelsea garden show and they would still find something to complain about.

What does an harrassment order involve. Things came to a head last week when I pushed one of them against a wall and nearly hit her. The other woman that is not the old one and she had been stood watching me in the garden for over 2 hours and mouthing off. I have never been violent to anyone and it scares me that I got that mad. I don't want this to end with me hitting one of them so that I am the one in trouble but they are always there and winding me up.

Any advice?

Reply politely with copies of said photographs.

I am sorry that your neighbours are giving you trouble freespirit.  What I would do if I were you, is to just deal with the allegations in the council letter i.e. make sure that the dogruns are sparkling and that there is no dog poo at all in your garden.  Deal with the allegations on the letter so that if the council come to inspect, it will make your neighbours out to be trouble-makers. (I am assuming that the allegations are unfounded)  The other problems are a separate issue IMO and should be dealt with appropriately.

Why did this all start in the first place freespirit, you have a different situation in many cases other parties do not have dogs therefore they are intolerant of some that do which leads on to complaints. In your situation you appear to have 2 neighbours with dogs already and a farmer, why are they all so intolerant of you and your dogs, what is behind all of this?

You won't solve this hostility until you get to the root of why it is there in the first place, sometimes you can't solve it but can understand it, this case I don't understand why?

There appears to be some tit for tat as you have also complained about one of your neighbours dogs, was that in retaliation or did you make the first move there, that may bring some understanding to the hostility if you did this first?????

I agree with other posters that all you need to do is answer the questions asked of you via the council with said photo's. I would go through the harrassment process too if things continued, some people can just shut out the world and carry on as normal, but if you are unhappy you need to do something and filing for harrassment would be the next step for you if accusations are unfounded.

But try to think why this has all started there may be hope of changing things for a happy neighbourhood if you can understand why?

I would hate to have neighbours disliking me and my dogs you must be very upset and unhappy, don't let them see they're getting to you, and you know you must not lash out, it will be your downfall, I wish I could snap my fingers and tell you to ignore them and happily live your life, but I know that is sometimes easier said than done. The one thing I will say is do not let it fill your thoughts daily it will make you miserable, live your life and try to block out as much as possible what is going on. :-)

I agree, deal with the council by sending a letter back with photos.  Tell them they are free to have a look for themselves, which they will do anyway.  Unless you live in a council owned house they have very little power if your dog/dogs are in good condition and not barking all the time.
Speak to your local citizens advice bureau about what a harassment order entails before doing it.  Also if the mouthing has become threats then contact the police advised you are being threatened and they have to take the complaint seriously and will come out to have a word with your neighbour, this may be enough to stop them.  You may have to resign yourself to the fact that not everyone likes dogs and that your neighbour may have taken a dislike to you for no reason.
As for the farmer he should lock his gate to stop it being left open.  Unless it is a public footpath then a stile or cattlegrid should be installed.
Whatever you do stay calm not matter what, best not to talk to them at all.  Try walking with a friend for a while.
As for the looking in your garden, you are within your rights to install fences up to 6 feet and conifer trees which grow up to about 10 - 12 feet (bit extreme but they grow fast).

Thankfully our new neighbours are nice and own 2 dogs and we only have neighbours at one side.  Our old neighbours where always complaining to the RSPCA that our dogs were being cruely treated (just to add they werent and all complaints dismissed by the rspca when they visited).  They moved out in the end after 3 years of doing very similar things, we had the council, the local enviromental health and the police round in that time to.  It seemed like they were trying eveything they could to get rid of me but I was doing nothing wrong and dont even have loads of dogs.

The only thing I got involved in was slander of my name/kennel name which was settled out of court. They were ordered to pay compensation.  This was settled about 6 months after they moved out and haven't heard from them since.

So you are not alone, keep calm, do everything within the law and they cant touch you.

Emma

The reason it is happening is that they found out something about 2 of my friends to do with property and why they were being asked to get out of their rented property. I cannot go into it on here. But although they are my friends none of this had anything to do with me. However the new neighbours have said they will get even over it.
The allegations are unfounded I'm not saying there is never poo in the garden but there is no smell.
As for what I have done........... last winter her 16 year old collie sat down the garden chained up shaking on wet mud. Recently the lady disappeared and the dog wouldn't stop barking and so I went down and fed it. I was horrified to find no bed inside and that it sleeps on wet mud which is probably why it barks all night. as I have not slept through the night for months have now reported this to council but hopefully the RSPCA can make her see sense re the dogs accomodation before winter.

I think some of the reason I have a problem is that the old lady has lived here all her life and her family owned all the properties so she does not like outsiders................oh and apparently she told me she don't like the English LOL so not much hope.
Also the new people who are moving in are well known as trouble makers (not the exact words used to describe them) in the village. They are also now owning the field with the right of way to the mountains and she has said she will make it very difficult to use that, so although I know I can still use it that will bring more arguments especially when she says her vicious st bernard will be on it LOL

I have today had another department of the council here stating that I own numerous breeding bitches LOL
What I call breeding bitches and what they call them are apparently 2 different things as they state anything over 1 year can be bred from and they only later in life do not count if they are spayed. Also they want to know why I have an un neutered dog here.
I did let her know the KC rules on showing neutered dogs and un spayed bitches and that u had to have permission to show and she said she was not interested in what the KC do LOL
I am allowed 6 bitches here before it becomes an issue. So lucky I have 3 spayed bitches and a boy and 4 unspayed bitches.

I was polite but did ask what other departments they had at the council who the neighbours could report me to. When the council come to the door do I have to let them in? And if I don't is it better for me to just let them in?

I don't know all the history but if it was me I would be as nice as pie and completely co-operative with the council as they are the people you don't want to get on the wrong side of. Like someone else said i would try and grow trees (although i appreciate this will take time) all around the fencing so that you get more privacy and it will in some ways seperate you from your neighbours. Under no circumstances get violent or even enter into an argument with them as this is probably what they are goading(sp) you for.
Make sure that you have pictures of anything that can incriminate them and make sure that your garden and runs are spotless. If the council come out I would be more than happy to let them inspect your house, in fact I would be telling them they are free to visit anytime so that they know you have nothing to hide. All these things should make the council think that your neighbours are timewasters, if you try and stop them accessing your property they will think you have something to hide.

I know it must be really hard but try not to let them wind you up, they are not worth it!

(((hug)))

When the council come to the door do I have to let them in? And if I don't is it better for me to just let them in?

No you dont have to let them in, but it is wiser to be nice and let them in as you have nothing to hide.

Emma

Last year I had the council's building control come to the door, he had an unfounded allegation that I was running an unlicenced boarding kennels, I had to show him all the dogs that I own then had the foresight to get all the dogs KC documents to prove that all dogs in our home were ours. He went away quite happily but I think it would be a different story if I hadn't let him in. The numpty that reported me took great delight in telling me yesterday that @there are rumours that you have been reported to envioromental health for washing down your drive and it going into the drain', I just ignored her as she isn't all there, they are lowlifes who rent the house (benefits pay fully for the 4 adults in the house) but I kindly pointed out that as she works cash in hand in the local newsagent and also does 2 paper rounds perhaps she shouldn't be reporting anyone.
Keep everything above board, take photocopies etc and send to the council with a counterclaim.

oh dear, freespirit10, isnt it an elderly neighbour? werent we waiting for the grim reaper? sometimes hes a bit slow but he will come in the end! chin up

If it were me, I'd be tempted to install a small CCTV in the back garden, making sure it was just focused on the garden and nobody elses property or space.  Just an idea.

I know of someone having similar problems with a neighbour.  They secretly installed CCTV cameras looking at the fence between the properties and the neighbour who reported them for their dogs constantly barking was filmed kicking the fence to make them do exactly that. The only dogs filmed barking were the neighbours dogs. 

They had the camera professionally installed and is so small that it is totally unnoticeable (they had to wait for the neighbour to be out).  Not only does it record but is linked to a monitor in the kitchen so they can watch it live.  I don't know what it cost but they did say it was reasonable and the proof they were able to show the council meant that the neighbours complaints go no further.

I think we have all experienced bullying to some degree and the sick feeling that goes with it. Just remember that CD'ers will always be available to share your worries and to give advise.  One thing I find helps just a little is to realise that anyone so angry and meanspirited and with sooo much time to invest in what someone else is doing is a very sad person indeed. How empty their day must be, how unloved they must feel, how bored and uninspired with life.  However bad they make you feel you could never feel as bad as that.

We had this as well with our ex neighbors, as well as the complaints about barking. The council just said they might come over to take photos of the back garden as proof and as we simply made sure there were no huge amounts of poo to take a photo OF, there was absolutely nothing the council could do.

Our neighbours kept harassing us as well but we were told there was nothing we could do. If anyone makes an official complaint to the council they HAVE to investigate it, whether it is an obvious lie or not. I.e. you cannot stop them from complaining. We also had stuff thrown over our fence etc but again were told we couldn't do a thing about it. So we moved. I'll never have neighbours again, too much hassle.

oh dear, freespirit10, isnt it an elderly neighbour? werent we waiting for the grim reaper? sometimes hes a bit slow but he will come in the end! chin up

LOL
Yes think I heard he's on his summer holidays !

She had the counciller out the other day I think but then when I first moved in I was told that she was very good friends with him.
She found out about my friends at a commoners dinner and apparently everyone now knows where they live too so they are expecting plenty of people knocking on their door too.

have just tried to walk the dogs across a right of way to find it blocked by a horse who was very intent on attacking the dogs and myself so will have to sort that out today via the right agencies.

I've had 3 yrs of this sort of harrassment made by my neighbour who also happens to be the vice chair of the parish council ----- aren't I the lucky one lol.

I have cctv at the house to monitor the garden when I'm not home, as well as a dictaphone to record their dogs barking and his verbal abuse shouted over the fence.  The council only need 3 mths worth of material to take legal action against the neighbours which can lead to an asbo, it means you keeping logs and taking as much evidence as you can to them.  I have kept a log and the items thrown over my fence which included glass bottle bottoms so they are thick and sticking upwards, 3 shotgun cartridges and of course the obligator rats and mice, one rat I took to the council as it came over whilst I was on the yard and had its head battered in with a shovel, the imprint was very visible.

I have also recently applied and got a huge load of documents under the DPA costing a mere £10 and giving me lots of information about any and all complaints made against me personally and my property, internal memo's, internal meetings as well as meetings they've had with various private individuals.  It has upset the council a great deal as they've had to give details of events I'd reported to the police with what I was told by the police, some of which had been claimed to have been a figment of my imgaination, its certainly worth while doing, there's also a trend shown of non recording of my evidence yet the neighbours had been issued with a DAT recorder used to record my alleged dog noise............. shouldn't laugh but the council had to admit there were no grounds for any complaints against me or my dogs!

Keep as much evidence as you can, go about your life as normal and keep the place tidy they soon learn there are no grounds for complaint especially if you've got taped evidence showing what you're living with on a daily basis.

Nothing to add but just to say well done to Schip for taking a stand. I can't imagine what must go through the minds of these awful people!!!