Neighbour Allows Their Large Dog To Roam The Streets - Advice Needed&#

[Colliewood]

IF

they send the dog back,

they will just go and get another one!!!!

they see it as a bad dog, not bad owner problem.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

I have family living in the same Shire and have lived there myself some years ago. As it's a semi rural area, dogs do wander but if they're reported, the problem usually stops, eventually.

In looking at the council's website, it would seem that you need to report the dog as being "unleashed creating a nuisance" and then the council takes action. If you're not happy with the action council rangers take, lodge a complaint in writing. You can do this via e-mail.

Why aren't you keeping your cat (and its food supply) indoors? From your descriptions, this dog is a large one capable of inflicting serious harm on your cat, never mind that both dogs are making off with its food (which you continue to leave out for the dogs...), yet you're not taking any action to halt this behaviour by keeping the cat and its food inside?

Why don't you change this and see if that makes a difference? :D

[sallyandtex]

Hi Frufru, we live in the Southern Highlands (Mittagong/Bowral area) The council is Wingecarribee.

Mind you I read on my Cockers registration papers that unregistered dogs can incurr fines up to $2,000. My dog is an indoor dog, fully vaccinated, microchipped, registered and spoilt rotten. If I didn't register him by 6 months they'd hit me with a fine. My vet told me they couldn't desex him until he was a year old as his testes hadn't dropped properly yet. I had to pay the undesexed registration cost to avoid fines. Funny world.

Winge Crabbie council I thought it said

Maybe you could try the state Ombudsman to look into Council failures!

Hope everything turns out OK.

Stupid people.

[sundays-child]

The dog has been reported as such and as stated nothing can be done about it. The council has a hands off approach. Perhaps things have changed since you left the Highlands.

Unfortunately my cat (like most) is a creature of habit and likes to nap outside during the day. If I could train her to stay in the backyard I would but unfortunately I can't do so. She had a biscuit feeder attached to my porch for her to graze from during the day which has now been taken my the dog. Both the cat and the feeder had been here for 6 years. I can hardly keep a cat locked indoors for 24 hours a day and I shouldn't have to. That's the point being made here.

The problem is not the feeder, it's not my cat and it's not me. The problem is the neighbours dog.

I have family living in the same Shire and have lived there myself some years ago. As it's a semi rural area, dogs do wander but if they're reported, the problem usually stops, eventually.

In looking at the council's website, it would seem that you need to report the dog as being "unleashed creating a nuisance" and then the council takes action. If you're not happy with the action council rangers take, lodge a complaint in writing. You can do this via e-mail.

Why aren't you keeping your cat (and its food supply) indoors? From your descriptions, this dog is a large one capable of inflicting serious harm on your cat, never mind that both dogs are making off with its food (which you continue to leave out for the dogs...), yet you're not taking any action to halt this behaviour by keeping the cat and its food inside?

Why don't you change this and see if that makes a difference? :D

[poodlefan]

Don't ring the council anymore.

Ring the Mayor... twice a day, every day the dog roams.

Time to escalate the reports.

Councils can seize roaming dogs.. sounds to be like you're being fobbed off because they either can't catch this one or don't want to.

[poodlemum]

Don't ring the council anymore.

Ring the Mayor... twice a day, every day the dog roams.

Time to escalate the reports.

Councils can seize roaming dogs.. sounds to be like you're being fobbed off because they either can't catch this one or don't want to.

;)

[KatrinaM]

Your neighbours dog is a huge problem, I do hope it is sorted now.

Not to be nasty but cat owners really should have to keep their cats on their own property as well so as not to be attcked by other animals or cause a nusiance to others resideing in the area. It seems like a whole pot calling the kettle black thing otherwise (although I am sure your cat doesnt make off with the neighbours biscuit feeder or growl at them).

[sundays-child]

Hi, I'm not really sure what you mean by pot calling the kettle black? My cat isn't on other people's property - she sleeps on my front door step during the day and this is where she is being chased from. We live on a 917m2 block with a long frontage. The dog is coming into our front yard, down our drive and up to our doorstep. My cat isn't moving from our property. She's 11 years old and from her going outside at 11 am to sleep on the porch and coming back inside at 4 pm I'm yet to see her harass the neighbours.

Your neighbours dog is a huge problem, I do hope it is sorted now.

Not to be nasty but cat owners really should have to keep their cats on their own property as well so as not to be attcked by other animals or cause a nusiance to others resideing in the area. It seems like a whole pot calling the kettle black thing otherwise (although I am sure your cat doesnt make off with the neighbours biscuit feeder or growl at them).

[Red Fox]

My cat likes to sleep on a chair out the front of my yard during the day too. However I would NOT letting him out if I thought he was at risk, nor would I be keeping food out on the front porch - or even the back porch for that matter! IMO that is only going to encourage stray animals to your house (dog, cats, possums etc.). If everytime the stray dog comes to your doorstep it gets fed and therefore rewarded for it's visit then you are only re-enforcing the behaviour. (Perhaps you could try putting the cats food in the laundry instead?)

Yes, the dog IS the problem and no it SHOULDN'T be roaming the streets or entering your property. But if there is a way to help minimise the chances of that dog choosing your doorstep than I cant understand why you wouldn't do that? And if you really think that your cat is at risk of being hurt by this dog then why are you even putting it at risk by allowing it to be outside?

Yes, cats do get grumpy when they have to change (and I have a particularly obnoxious Burmese who will scream the house down to get his way), but the fact is that the cat will live if he has to stay inside for a bit. You could also look into something like a cat run for your backyard if you really want to let him out and keep him safe at the same time.

And yes I can see your point - why should YOU have to do all the hard work when it is THEM that are the bad owners and allowing their dog to roam into YOUR property??

Well in an ideal world you shouldn't and it's NOT fair. But if the council is not doing anything then you need to protect your own animals first and minimise any chance that the dog will decide to lob on your doorstep day after day.

And I agree with the others that you should take your complaint further. It's not acceptable for the concil to just do nothing about an ongoing problem

I dont suppose you could erect a temporary (or even permanant) fence out the front of your yard?

[persephone]

I can hardly keep a cat locked indoors for 24 hours a day and I shouldn't have to. That's the point being made here.

perhaps not- however, leaving a biscuit feeder on the step is a great reward for wandering dogs/cats

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Actually, most cats happily adjust to being kept indoors despite their owner's fears that it's unnatural, or too restrictive, or whatever other flimsy excuse they like to trot out as fact. Would you prefer to keep your elderly cat safe, or would you prefer to maintain a position in which you're merely the victim of a bad neighbour or lazy council?

My family has lived in the area for a very long time, they still do (I'm the only one who has moved). They don't seem to have any problems with roaming dogs but they also don't leave dog or cat food out and they have spoken with neighbours previously about dogs which have been at large. Council rangers acted relatively quickly in the past as well; many dogs are impounded because they've been caught roaming.

I'm not sure what else to suggest because whatever I have put in this thread, you've basically said it's not working or you shouldn't have to change the way you live to solve the problem. I guess you'll just have to put up with this dog roaming and the fear that it might harm your cat because you won't keep the cat indoors...

Good luck with it all.

[sundays-child]

Suddenly I'm a bad pet owner? I cannot believe what a bunch of bitter and twisted old narks you are. From someone who studies psychology, these forums are an absolute cesspool for those that wouldn't even dare say such things in person. Cowards with mundane lives hunting in packs for an ego boost all the while hiding behind your usernames. Charming. Signing off now, back to my normal forum free life. Thank God.

Actually, most cats happily adjust to being kept indoors despite their owner's fears that it's unnatural, or too restrictive, or whatever other flimsy excuse they like to trot out as fact. Would you prefer to keep your elderly cat safe, or would you prefer to maintain a position in which you're merely the victim of a bad neighbour or lazy council?

My family has lived in the area for a very long time, they still do (I'm the only one who has moved). They don't seem to have any problems with roaming dogs but they also don't leave dog or cat food out and they have spoken with neighbours previously about dogs which have been at large. Council rangers acted relatively quickly in the past as well; many dogs are impounded because they've been caught roaming.

I'm not sure what else to suggest because whatever I have put in this thread, you've basically said it's not working or you shouldn't have to change the way you live to solve the problem. I guess you'll just have to put up with this dog roaming and the fear that it might harm your cat because you won't keep the cat indoors...

Good luck with it all.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Suddenly I'm a bad pet owner? I cannot believe what a bunch of bitter and twisted old narks you are. From someone who studies psychology, these forums are an absolute cesspool for those that wouldn't even dare say such things in person. Cowards with mundane lives hunting in packs for an ego boost all the while hiding behind your usernames. Charming. Signing off now, back to my normal forum free life. Thank God.

Actually, most cats happily adjust to being kept indoors despite their owner's fears that it's unnatural, or too restrictive, or whatever other flimsy excuse they like to trot out as fact. Would you prefer to keep your elderly cat safe, or would you prefer to maintain a position in which you're merely the victim of a bad neighbour or lazy council?

My family has lived in the area for a very long time, they still do (I'm the only one who has moved). They don't seem to have any problems with roaming dogs but they also don't leave dog or cat food out and they have spoken with neighbours previously about dogs which have been at large. Council rangers acted relatively quickly in the past as well; many dogs are impounded because they've been caught roaming.

I'm not sure what else to suggest because whatever I have put in this thread, you've basically said it's not working or you shouldn't have to change the way you live to solve the problem. I guess you'll just have to put up with this dog roaming and the fear that it might harm your cat because you won't keep the cat indoors...

Good luck with it all.

Oh, now I get it!

You come here, ask for advice, are provided with advice, then you say you didn't want that kind of advice and somehow none of this is your fault.

Either you want advice and you act upon it, or you don't ask for it in the first place. More than one person advised you to stop leaving out cat food and to stop letting your cat outside, as both of these pieces of advice WILL help resolve the problem you report. Yet you say it's not fair and blah blah, poor me.

This thread is full of great suggestions, but you don't want to put them in place. No, you would rather find us agreeing that your council rangers are hopeless, that you're merely a victim in a wider conspiracy, and that because nothing is your fault, you are clearly in the right and everyone else is in the wrong. So it would seem you are seeking justice rather than advice.

As I said, good luck with it all.

[Rozzie]

Don't forget it's school holidays....

[Red Fox]

Suddenly I'm a bad pet owner? I cannot believe what a bunch of bitter and twisted old narks you are. From someone who studies psychology, these forums are an absolute cesspool for those that wouldn't even dare say such things in person. Cowards with mundane lives hunting in packs for an ego boost all the while hiding behind your usernames. Charming. Signing off now, back to my normal forum free life. Thank God.

Hmmmm... not sure exactly which posts you are refering to but if you knocked on my door and asked me what I though you should do I would give you exactly the same answer - which is keep your cat in, remove the food from outside and hound the local council until they do something about it.

Sorry, I dont think you are a "bad" owner nor do I think anyone else is implying that you are. And I dont understand what is wrong with suggesting that you remove your cats food from the front porch and keep him inside for a bit to protect him from a supposedly viscious dog

[mr.mister]

..I don't think anyone suggested you were a bad pet owner at all...

Obviously the neighbours are a right pain in the butt, the council won't do a thing about it. So apart from suggesting that you continue to hound the council, is the suggestion that you try to keep your cat inside, even temporarily, not unreasonable?

Surely an elderly cat won't be too fussed with staying inside for at least a short period of time. IMO, I'd rather keep my cat inside than worry about it getting knocked off by the neighbours dog.

Our family having had quite a few in our time, I know for a fact cats can easily adjust to being inside pets. Not a huge deal. Particularly an old one?

Anyway, in the end it's your situation and you do with it what you will. You came on this forum asking for advice, and people gave it. I certainly don't believe anyone was rude in anyway or said you were a bad owner.

Anyway, best of luck.

[persephone]

an absolute cesspool for those that wouldn't even dare say such things in person.

I am regularly chastised for saying much worse in person I am very meek online.

As said, if you asked me in person I would also say "Remove the cat food, keep your cat confined in a dog proof situation, get evidence, per photos, of the dog/s in your yard, and pester the council until they DO something.!"

[persephone]

Oh, and ...

From someone who studies psychology

Perhaps you will see things differently after you have completed your studies ?

[poodlemum]

To the OP - if you read a few threads on this forum, you'll find that there are a few members who love playing "bash the newbie"

Judging from the attitude of some on this forum, their dogs have NEVER misbehaved, they have never had ANY problems and yet they are experts in telling everyone else what to do.

I guess that keeping the cat and the catfood inside might be an idea, until the dog goes, or (more likely) gets hit by a car - your d*ckhead neighbors obviously arn't going to do anything and neither will the council, unless you are prepared to hound them regularly.

Please don't be totally turned off DOL, there are good people on here with a wealth of experience & good advice, and not just self-righteous know-it-alls!