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Wild dogs running free- suggestions?

mary
April 26th, 2001, 12:19 PM
Question: hi there, I am in a predicament, and I am hoping you will be able to shed some light to help remedy this situation. my neighbor which happens to be my sister in law, has two dogs, both beautiful dogs, but
they refuse to tie them up. these two dogs like to kill and bring home small to medium animals, like cats, muskrats, small foxes to birds. they kill them and mangle them, and leave the carcasses there to rot. my sister in law or her husband don't clean them up unless we ask them to. their kids are small 2.5 and 1 yr olds, our kids are bigger 9, 12, and 14. my kids know not to touch the carcasses, I have talked to them about this and they seem to understand. the problem is that I am afraid to get any animals of my own, for fear of their dog killing them. when I had my St. Bernard their one dog ran over and attacked my dog, and they didn't think much of it. the one dog had bitten me twice, really just nipped me and didn't draw blood, and did the same to my older son. that one dog used to be abused by a
previous owner and gets upset if you go near his collar. they say that they will not tie up their pets, or put them in a dog pen, they say its not right. and they refuse to put up a fence for financial reasons. and since I am on a roll and venting, they also get into our garbage on
garbage day and drag garbage from the road to their house. its a mess.

sometimes the dogs just come over, especially when they come over and I have asked them not to let their dogs come over, they stink, oh, they also don't bath their dogs, they say that they clean themselves. we have a large lot 175X200 and it would cost us a fortune to fence in our yard to keep them off of our property, especially since they are not our dogs, but what do we do.....they are family. after living here for 16 years and
enjoying it my husband is talking about moving.....because of these dogs!
I hope you can help me resolve this, I don't know what to do or where to turn. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you may have, I love animals very much and I believe I am a responsible pet owner. since I lost my St. Bernard 2 years ago, from a car accident, I haven't thought about another pet until recently. please help me find a solution to this dilemma, thanking you in
advance........

Mary

clarence
April 26th, 2001, 12:34 PM
Hi Mary,

Wow a predicament indeed. In my opinion you need to tell your sister in law
how you feel. You need to tell her that it IS ILLEGAL for her dogs to roam
free...they must be tied up period.

If you cannot tell them for whatever reason, then call the police....or make
an anonymous call. (They are probably bothering other neighbors as well)

You are in the right... but it's up to you how you want to deal with your
family.

Good luck!

Clarence

mary
April 26th, 2001, 12:38 PM
Clarence,

I want to thank you for your response, regarding my neighbours dogs and them
letting them loose, and killing area small animals. I did talk to my sister
in law about how we feel. we just recently purchased a kitten and this
kitten, we know has to stay in the house at all times. I let her know that
it is illegal to let the dogs run loose all the time, and how its unsafe for
her children as well as ours re rabies and perhaps other diseases. she
refuses to see the problem.......so my next recourse is to call the police
and ask to remain anonymous, I think that this would help solve the problem.
thanks for helping me out with this situation.
.......Mary

lylag
April 30th, 2001, 08:04 AM
Hi Mary,

I'm not even sure I would remain anonymous!

It's obvious your sis-in-law does not care for your feelings, or the safety of your new cat or the safety of children in the neighborhood....she just seems VERY selfish.

I mean come on...what's the big deal to leave the dogs on a 10 or 20 foot cord instead of running free and killing animals...possibly other children.

Personally if you have the guts...I would lodge a FORMAL COMPLAINT with the police.

These people do not seem logical and even though they are family you are likely to get into a big fight eventually.

Best of luck

Lylag

poodlegirl
May 10th, 2001, 11:23 AM
Hi Mary,

I agree with Lylag. These people although family, are taking advantage of you.

I'd call the police and lodge a formal complaint.

Poodlegirl

Mikaela
May 29th, 2001, 03:44 PM
Mary,

I know there is a lot of debate about shock collars and whatnot, personally I think they're inhumane, but so is letting your dog run wild to kill all the nearby wildlife and beloved family pets of neighbours... since you mentioned they won't fence their yard due to financial reasons, maybe a perimeter shock fence would be more feasible. Granted I've read that it doesn't work on some dogs, and these sound more than a little feral but I think it would cost considerably less and maybe offering to split the cost or something would make your sister in law more open to the idea (although from what you've told us about her in the post, she's not a very reasonable person).

I also agree that you should call the police, anonymous or not. As well as calling the S.P.C.A...I'm not sure what their rules about picking up animals are but I think that letting your dogs run totally wild would be a good one. Particularly in light of them having bitten people. Maybe losing her dogs would make her realise that you're not the only one who thinks what she's doing is wrong... The carcasses being left around is a health hazard at best. You have to question someone's ability to parent if they're leaving dead and possibly diseased animals laying in their front yard for their toddlers to find as well. Those dogs could attack them/kill them easier than a cat/rabbit. All round something MUST be done, for your safety and that of your sister in law's babies.

I feel for your predicament though, it's a hard thing to do.

Best of luck,

Mikaela

mary
May 29th, 2001, 10:24 PM
thank you liligag and mikala, and the others. i did let the neighbors know that they needed to keep their dogs on their property again, and i guess that was their last straw. things basically blew up at that point. my sister in law came over stomping, said many nasty and rude comments and very personal ones, infront of my daughter, her friends and my two sons. it was an all out yelling match on her part. i was so proud of myself, i basically kept on repeating " just keep you dogs on your property" i kept it factual, kept an even tone and even though she continued to yell and scream i stayed calm and repeated the same phrase. perhaps this annoyed her, i just stayed focused. she did say that she would put up a fence and that i should be happy now. and i agreed with her. she stomped off, wisked her 2 1/2 year old daughter off the trampoline( she was playing with my daughter and her friends )and told her that she couldn't play here no more. now that is what made this whole situation sad is that she was now involving the kids, then to make matters worse she got her parents in on this. her parents are very doating to her, she is their only daughter and she pretty well gets what she wants. i am not sure what she told her parents but within 6 hrs her father came into our home and told my husbond, his son, that he's tired of this fighting over the dogs, we needed to get our stuff out of his barns next door, we needed to move our shed because it was 3 inches on his property ( he owns about 100 ft of property between my sis in law and us ) he also said that he was putting up a fence to keep us off his property. nasty things were said between my husband and his dad, my husband says that he now regrets, but, they were said. now a week later. even though we have very hurt feelings still, things are starting to settle, at least the kids are allowed to go over there. a fence is up, and i might add, looks very nice. chainlink and painted green. mom and dad in law have been there all week doing this and planting flowers. but there are gaps under the fence where the dogs can get under and the fence falls short of the house by about 1 1/2 feet at each side that meets the house, soooo the dogs are fenced in but can get out when they please. i called the police today, because the two dogs where on our property twice and i needed to know where i stood with the law. they said that there are bylws regarding dogs at large, and any dog not contained on their property is a dog at large. they said that a formal complaint needed to be made, they would give a warning and if it continued they would be ticketed. such a sad situation! unfortunately they are making the choice for us. my husband and i talked about it and we believe this is the way it needs to go, basically they have decided to act irresponsibly so they need to deal with the consequences, we didn't make up the laws, the laws are there to protect the public. this is where we are now, any further updates, i will keep you posted. i tend to be an optimist but i am having a hard time with this one...................sincerely mary

carey
November 6th, 2004, 01:25 PM
What a sad story. And they are making YOU out to be the villain :mad: You absolutely did the right and responsible thing by notifying the authorities. It may be the only way for them to understand that owning dogs is a privilege and a responsibility and should be taken seriously. Why go to the trouble of fencing their property if it still allows their dogs to get out? I hope this is fixed asap. I wouldn't hesitate to call the authorities again at any infraction, as it appears to be the only way they will take you seriously. Good luck!

Lucky Rescue
November 6th, 2004, 01:49 PM
they say that they will not tie up their pets, or put them in a dog pen, they say its not right

But they feel it IS right to let their dogs get trapped, shot, poisoned, run over, stolen, or diseased? Funny way of thinking. Not to mention the fact that they put other people's pets at risk. Do they feel that's right too?

These people are beyond help and should not own any animals.

I really feel for you, being stuck living next door to this mess.:(

DogueLover
November 6th, 2004, 01:57 PM
You can call the police and make a complaint and even let them know who you are but there has to be a bylaw regarding the dogs being at large. There is one here and each time your dog is found on the loose they are picked up by animal control, taken to the pound and the owners are fined $100.00 each time.
Check with your local bylaw enforcement office and report the dogs at large, I am sure they will be picked up and taken to the shelter nearest you.
Your sister in law and brother will soon find that a fence is much less costly than the fines they will continue to pay if they do not keep their dogs tied or fenced.
From what you have said, I am sure they would have some answering to do with the local authorities regarding the dogs physical condition and the condition of the yard( with rotting small animals they have killed laying about)
It is not polite to say but I am sure that your brother and sister in law could expect a visit from social services regarding the welfare of their children if they are made aware of the situation with these dogs who are running loose and known biters who kill small prey and bring it home.
Just a thought anyway,

CaneCorso81
November 6th, 2004, 02:06 PM
I am curious have you talked to your other neighbors? What do they think of your sister in law's dogs running loose as well? Aren't they concerned with their kids, animals, etc?

You might want them to fill a formal complaint to police too.

Cinnabear
November 6th, 2004, 02:32 PM
I don't think this person is going to read this. This was dated 2001.

carey
November 6th, 2004, 06:51 PM
Ooops!! I guess I didn't check out the date. :eek: Hopefully, since this was 3 years ago, things have sorted themselves out...

chico2
November 7th, 2004, 08:16 AM
That's funny!!!Not the story,but the date :crazy: I was just about to give my opinion,but hopefully this has been solved and these people do not have dogs anymore.