Should I or shouldn't I?

[Geila]

I have neighbors across the street who own a large Labradoodle. They live in a 1-bedroom apartment and keep him in their very small patio. The poor dog just lays there all day, every day. He is thin, dirty, scraggly, hair is very patchy, showing signs of clumps falling off, and the hair that he does have is overgrown and looks matted and tangled. I know from experience that those knots are very painful for dogs. When I've walked up to say hi to the neighbors, he sweetly and quietly comes to the fencing for me to pet him.

The owners are in very bad physical shape, they have both been taken out in stretchers and ambulances in the past few months. The husband is in a wheelchair having lost his legs to diabetes and the wife is morbidly obese. They have a 7-yr old daughter and a small dog they keep inside the apt. I have never seen them walking the dogs in the 2 years they've lived here.

Yesterday I saw one of the owners in the patio and I went over to him and asked if I could walk their dog and bring him over to my backyard for a play date with my dogs. They know who I am because I helped them find their small dog when it got out a few months ago (the dog was matted, dirty and his back section was covered in matted clumps of feces. I desperately wanted to take it home and bathe it but they were crying with relief at finding it so I just let it go.) Yesterday when I offered to walk them, the owner said, "sure, but not today." I came back and left them a note with my name and number and told them I could go over anytime. They said thanks. Today when I was walking back with my dogs I saw the woman on the patio and I said a cheery hello. She tried to ignore me but I kept waving and she finally said hi. I don't think they will take me up on my offer.

My question is, should I report them to animal services for neglect? If so, how long should I wait before I do it? I want to give them a chance to take me up on my offer, but not wait too long. I feel like I've already waited too long to help the dog. It's hard to talk to the owners because I can't access the building and they hardly ever go in the patio. So I don't even know their address, although I can take animal services to their patio.

If I report them, they will know for sure that it was me and might be angry. But it just breaks my heart every time I walk by and see that poor dog just laying there.

[Tradd]

Do it.

[KayLR]

I worry about the 7-yr-old, as well...wonder if she is cared for. What do you have to lose calling in? Their "friendship?" They're not likely to avenge, are they?

[iris lilies]

Doesnt hurt to report what you’ve seen since this falls into neglect.

[catherine]

They are already on the defensive. I think it would be REALLY hard for them to accept your help. Either find a way to weave your offer with compassion and understanding for their own personal situation, or just call Animal Protection and let the chips fall where they may. If a neighbor offered to take my dog, and I previously had no meaningful relationship with them, I'd know something is up, and I'd resist, unless that neighbor had been actively involved in concern about my own welfare beforehand. To them, you're just a busybody. So if you feel you need to call Animal Protection, do it, and accept the consequences in terms of future relationship with your neighbors.

[Teacher Terry]

Yes I would do it and I worry about the child also. Ugh!

[Simplemind]

Please call, don't delay.

[Geila]

I have not seen any signs of neglect with the child. When I've seen her she was happy and cheerful, normal weight, and looked just like a regular kid (no obvious signs of neglect like dirty clothes or face, no unkempt hair.) And I've never heard any loud voices or fighting.

I will call animal services and report it. Now I'm wishing that I had not said anything to them. But I really was hoping that they would let me take care of the dog, even hoping that they might ask me to take him. Naive, I guess. I would like to offer to keep him after animal services does their intake, if they take him. Is that too much? Would it be too much for the owners and make them think that it was all a ruse to steal their dog? They'll be able to see me walking him everyday. I think in their mind they do not see themselves as neglectful at all.

They are probably on section 8 housing, so I don't think they'll be moving anytime soon, as the housing is hard to get.

[Tradd]

After you call and if Animal Control investigates, it will be interesting to see if conditions inside the apartment end up with a call to social services about the 7 year old.

[iris lilies]

Yes they would likely think your actions are all a ruse to steal their dog.

Many people are basically quite stupid. They probably paid “good money“ for that designer dog. UGG.

Once the cops came into our house to question us about our neighbors’ missing dog. The dog was an unfriendly Chow chow, typical for that breed. Every time I went out our front door and he was in the yard I would talk to him. I would talk to the neighbors about their dog. I like Chows because they look like bears, but I think their personality sucks.

But I didn’t take it personally, I just wanted him to know me and maybe like me. I can’t remember if he barked at me or not, it’s possible he didn’t because Chows are not big barkers, they’re pretty quiet.

anyway, one day the Chow turned up missing. The neighbors, idiotic renters, have a fence that was not secured but for some reason they expected their dog to stay in the yard. And I guess the cops came to visit us because they had some idea that maybe we had taken their dog? Or I suppose he was just doing his due diligence after asking them if anyone had been particularly interested in their dog.


Anyway, they were quite stupid, like I wanted their cheapass dog.

But I suppose to them their dog had “monetary value “because the man of the house didn’t work, the woman was newly pregnant, they were very young, and probably paying more in rent and then they could afford. So their newly acquired dog was a vanity purchase they couldn’t afford. If I remember correctly the dog did come back at some point. And they moved soon after.