Not long before Earth Hour 2011 I went vegan. During Earth Hour I unplugged everything in my home, pulled out my trashcan and spent the time reading the labels on the food in my kitchen and getting rid of all animal products.
It would have been a great way to celebrate both Earth Hour and my decision to go vegan but filling the silence in my home were the cries of the doggie next door.
I won’t go into all the history but my neighbor now has two beautiful boxers. During Earth Hour she had left one of the dogs (long story but one had moved out temporarily) outside for a full 24 hours and the little girl was crying so loudly it was all I could hear. I ended up sitting on my kitchen flood hugging my dog Toni and crying. I felt helpless. No laws were being broken, no one would come to help.
Then the other doggie moved back in and since they were both left outside for long stretches of time and because no one ever made the effort to teach them manners, they destroyed several pieces of lawn furniture and repeatedly broke boards/gates off the privacy fence to get out and roam the neighborhood. I can’t tell you how many times I would open my garage door from the inside to be greeted by two big, tail wagging boxers. I would gasp from surprise and then laugh my ass off from the happy wagging dogs looking back at me and at my initial fear response.
This last winter we had a few snow days. One night the dogs were left outside until after 11:00pm with no shelter. They cried and cried at the door begging to be let in. I went out to the fence and tried to talk to them. I tossed over a few doggie biscuits that they ignored. It wasn’t food they wanted, they wanted someone to care and open the door for them, and give them a little warmth. I called animal control and was told if they are still outside in the morning to give them a call. My neighbors got home at about midnight and let the dogs in.
This last week after a particularly eventful period of broken fences, escaped dogs, and destroyed lawn furniture, my neighbors got a dog kennel that is only 5 feet by 10 feet. They put it on the concrete patio without any cover. The first evening I come home to screams (actual screams) from one of the dogs. It sounded like a child. I kept going to the fence to check on them. Portland is in the middle of a heat wave right now and I was very scared for them. I again called animal control and was told to document the barking for a couple of days and then I could register a complaint about the noise. WTF!
But the barking and the cries have stopped. The beautiful babies are still locked outside in a small cage with almost no shelter from the sun…but they stopped crying so the city doesn’t care. It is so hot out that I won’t walk my dogs because of the temperature of the pavement. This same hot pavement is what the babies next door are laying on.
I very strongly believe that if someone takes on the responsibility of taking an animal into their home then they are absolutely responsible for them, for life. But in this case, I so very, very much wish my neighbors would give up the dogs. The dogs are living a painful life and the owners clearly do not care about them. So let them go. Give them a chance to find a loving home.
Both of my dogs are rescues. KC came from a puppy mill that was shut down. The first family that took her gave her back because she wouldn’t play. Mr Bo is 10 years old and had a very hard life on the streets and then uncared for in a home that let his skin become covered with sores. I love my dogs and so many other people would love my neighbor’s dogs if they would just do the decent thing and let them go.
When people treat their pets badly, it infuriates me. Some jack-tool left his dog out during a hurricane down here last year, but because he had a few boards up over the pen, the police said he had “shelter.” To avoid being arrested, I didn’t respond with “So can I leave you outside with just a few boards as “shelter?” I fell like that would have gone badly.
Have you contacted the ASPCA? or maybe just throwing an old blanket over the pen?
By: VegansHusband on August 14, 2012
at 7:27 pm
I contacted the local Humane Society and was told I could complain to the police about the noise. My fear is that they will take it out on the dogs if the police show up to talk to them. At least the heat has ended in Portland.
By: Debbie on August 29, 2012
at 10:13 pm
Such an awful situation. I don’t have any advice for you. It’s tough to know what to do when they’re not technically breaking the law, but they are definitely not being good pet parents.
By: Pam Cameron on August 14, 2012
at 8:26 pm
Thanks Pam. It is difficult to know what to do and I am fighting with myself about what I should or should not do. Feeling a little helpless right now.
By: Debbie on August 29, 2012
at 10:15 pm
Emotions come quickly in situations like this. There was a time though when we ourselves also did not have a heightened awareness of our fellow creatures. We weren’t jerks before we went vegan, we just didn’t have the knowledge. Your neighbors probably aren’t jerks either, they’re just not “enlightened” yet. People associate dogs with the outdoors and are sometimes surprised to consider that dogs wouldn’t be perfectly comfortable outside, no matter what the conditions might be like.
Everyone learns differently and accepts help differently, so try approaching your neighbor in a positive way rather than a negative one. For example, visit and thank them for the visit from their friendly dogs, and mention that when in your garage they had enjoyed some old sheets your dogs use as a bed. Offer the old sheets as a bed for their area out back (that will give them some relief from the concrete). Mention that you used to keep one of the sheets attached to the top of your kids’ kennel with clothes pins to form a “tent.” Then if you have a hose you can spray the sheets each day and as the water evaporates it will help cool them. Or if it’s close enough, turn a sprinkler on them!
It sounds like the neighbors probably commute a long distance and were worried about leaving the dogs indoors (given their track record with lawn furniture). Do you know of any low-cost doggie day-care facilities?
I hope a solution is found quickly; I know you’re hitting triple-digits this week.
By: Know Thank You on August 15, 2012
at 5:22 pm
Thank you for the suggestions. You always have very levelheaded advice. You may be right about them not being jerks or at least intentional jerks. I will try to keep an open mind. So far I haven’t been very successful in that effort
I really don’t believe they would talk to me about the dogs. When I return the dogs after they get out the most they say is a quick “sorry they got out” to me and a stern “get in the house” to the dogs.
I’m going to talk to the Humane Society tomorrow to see if they have any suggestions or if they can do anything.
By: Debbie on August 29, 2012
at 10:53 pm
I’m sure Know Thank You’s approach is much better, but I would have been pounding on the neighbour’s door already to give them an earful, badgering animal control, the SPCA, the police, AND bylaw enforcement officers, plus enlisting the help of other neighbours who are probably also concerned. Screams? That’s when my more combative, in-your-face approach would have kicked in. It’s worked for me in the past, probably because it’s not expected from a petite, mild-mannered looking woman such as myself.
But at this point I would try some of the recommendations that Know Thank You has provided. Your neighbours are obviously not going to take responsibility for their dogs, so I’m afraid that someone has to.
By: havegonevegan on August 20, 2012
at 1:03 pm
Hey Debbie, sorry if I sounded harsh or blaming (and I DID feel badly for you, although that didn’t come across in my comment I’m afraid), but hearing what those dogs were enduring at the hands of your neighbours just made me so mad! Hopefully things are a bit better now?
By: Have Gone Vegan on August 26, 2012
at 10:21 am
No you didn’t sound harsh, you sound like someone who cares deeply for animals and for the welfare of these dogs. We need more people in this world with your level of concern for animals!
I’ll admit I’m a bit scared of these people. And yes I am feeling a lot of guilt that I have not talked to them. However, I have decided to go talk to the Humane Society to see if they have any advice or if they can do anything.
By: Debbie on August 29, 2012
at 11:10 pm
I’m not sure what happened but something did and now my neighbors no longer leave the dogs in the cage all day and evening. In fact, over the past several days I have not seen them in the cage at all. At first I thought maybe the dogs were gone but then I did see them running up and down the fence line with my dogs one morning. Maybe my call to animal control made a difference (doubtful, no one called me back) or maybe a neighbor intervened. I don’t know. I’m just happy life seems better for my four legged neighbors.
By: Debbie on September 8, 2012
at 4:08 pm
I do feel for you, it’s so hard to know what to do for the best in these situations. But I’m glad things have improved now
By: aliasviolet on September 16, 2012
at 3:06 pm
Thanks. Things are much better now. I worked from home on Thursday and unlike other days the dogs were allowed in the house or played in the yard.
By: Debbie on September 16, 2012
at 8:11 pm