Has anyone here been in a war with their neighbour?

[Mrs. Edge]

We have a serious, SERIOUS problem. If anyone is a lawyer or has legal advice I'd appreciate it, although I doubt anything can be done. I've posted this in my journal too but I am so worried, I'm posting here.

There are two dogs that live next to us. They are yappy, horrible dogs. One was abused when he was younger which is why he tries his very hardest to bite everyone.

Our neighbours keep them tied up in the front yard for short periods all during the day but the barking is deafening whenever anyone walks by.

One of them already bit Paul. Then their other dog picked up this charming habit and bit our painter (fortunately he doesn't have teeth!).

So we had ANOTHER talk with the owner who said that he will shorten their leashes again and that usually they stay inside.

Today I walked up to the house and was jumped by both dogs who missed me by inches. This is going to TERRIFY any potential house buyers. The bitch of a girlfriend (who was the one who told US to tell the neighborhood kids to stop tobogganing on our property so THEIR dogs would stop barking at them) began to take them inside.

One last time I said that we are selling the house (it's on the market today) and that these dogs will scare our buyers. She looked smugly at me and said "There's nothing I can do about that!"

I said, "Well actually you could keep the dogs in the back or INDOORS!" She didn't answer and shut the door in my face.

The dog is back out again barking at people. I think this is her getting back at us for not getting rid of those kids. But if she hates us, why not try to help us get out?

I know that if we call animal control they will know it's us and I'm afraid she will try to sabotage our house or something.

WHAT DO WE DO??????????? We have GOT to sell this house or we will be out hundreds of thousands of dollars!!!!

 

[tpsreports2424]

ok, well im 13 and someday yes I would want to be a lawyer but this has nothing to do with my advice..

do you hear the dogs when you're inside your house? because then you can file a complaint...

tell them to take their dogs to obidient school:shurg:

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

Maybe you realtor will have some suggestions of how to deal with something that's really out of your control but can still affect the sale of your home.

I was going to suggest that you call the police or animal control, but I worry that if they found out the dogs had bitten people, they could possibly take them to be euthanized.

It might not be a bad idea to visit your local police station and talk to an officer about dog laws in your area. You don't have to go into specifics; you can just say you're a little concerned about a situation that you could see potentially becoming a problem later.

Yippy dogs Good luck!

 

[fah]

Call your local Animal Control office and ask them what can be done. They are probably more qualified to answer your dog questions than the police.

Remember the office is usually open for questions during normal business hours ~ not when you really need them

 

[Doozer61]

i agree with fah. our animal control officers usually try to work with the owners if at all possible.

 

[ntalwar]

"FDA: Tainted pet food still on shelves"

 

[MrBrau1]

yeah, antifreeze.

 

[Liesje]

The abuse is no excuse, their behavior is controllable and is all the owner's fault. Unfortunately, unless the bites are breaking skin or they can access the public sidewalks from their tie out, there's probably not a lot you can do. I would call Animal Control, just for good measure, and maybe a warning would help.

 

[cydewaze]

Well they can access OUR front walk from their tie out, so that's tresspassing. I have pics of the first bite. It left red welts that came very close to breaking the skin. In fact in the pics they look like they did break the skin.

 

[Liesje]

Oooo, then I'd call Animal Control and show them the pic, plus get a pic of the dogs going after you on your walkway.

If the bite breaks the skin, most places require it to be quarantined for 10 days. That should teach them a lesson.

 

[Carek1230]

I agree with all of the above.

You can get the local police department involved if there is a noise issue from barking or the neighbors yelling at the dogs. The next step would DEFINITELY be Animal Control, and most specifically regarding the bite. Report that. You could sue the neighbor for that alone.

Do you happen to have any kind of a Neighborhood association? They might be a source of help and support to you. And definitely the Realtor should be able to recommend something, I am sure this kind of situation is not the first most realtors have dealt with. A good reliable realtor would know what to do to help you market and successfully your house.

Good luck you guys-you shouldn't have to be going through this.

 

[Mrs. Edge]

Yes, we do have a neighbourhood association, so we will look into that. Good idea! We also have a legal service through Paul's work, so we will ask them about options too.

We will more than likely end up calling Animal Control. We have no problem with any of that, it's the after effects of relations with these people that I'm worried about.

I am so glad we took pics of the bite, and we even have a record if it because Paul wrote about it in his journal. The painter said he'd testify about his bite (or gumming...lol!) too.

Meanwhile I have written them a letter in one last gasp at diplomacy, I will show it to the lawyer before we send:

Dear Dan,

Sorry this is in the form of a note, but we were unable to catch you in person before you left for work this evening.

This afternoon at about 6pm, Jessica came home and your dogs once again lunged at her, barking furiously and straining at the end of their leashes, just inches from the pathway. Jessica went in the house and came out again to get the mail. The dogs lunged at her again. Your girlfriend (sorry, we don’t know her name) came out and started to bring them in. Jessica commented that our house went on the market today and these dogs will scare any prospective buyers. She looked at Jessica and said, “Well there’s nothing I can do about that.” Jessica then suggested that the dogs be kept indoors or if they have to be outside, the back yard. She shut the door without replying.

Dan we are not trying to cause trouble, but we are on the hook for a house, we close on May 25 and we HAVE to sell this house. If these dogs scare away our potential buyers we will have a serious problem. As you know they have already bitten and left marks on Paul (we have photos to prove this) and our painter. We think we have been very patient and have tried to deal with you directly. You have been understanding and have assured us that the dogs remain largely indoors, yet they seem to be outdoors more than ever. Have you communicated this to your girlfriend?

We really hope that we can come to a mutually satisfying arrangement. Would it help if we called to let you know when we know of people coming to see the house? The only problem is they will be coming over largely during the day when you are asleep. We don’t know what else to do and are truly worried about this situation. The housing market is already very challenging and again, we cannot afford to hang onto this house because of the dogs.

We would really appreciate a conversation with you about this either in person or by phone.

We appreciate your cooperation,

Jessica & Paul

 

[Mr. BAW]

Concerning that prior dog bite; as I and others suggested, did Paul ever file a report with the authorities? because if you had, either animal control or the police would have investigated and obtained your neighbor's homeowner's insurance...you could have contacted the carrier....they LOVE knowing their client's have potentially dangerous animals that are exposed to the public...

Maybe its not too late; does your realtor have any idea as to who holds the note on that house and maybe he can find out the name of the insurance company; put in a call to their claims department and see what happens...

Or did you even tell the neighbor about that last dog bite? maybe now's the time to suggest you'll file a claim...

 

[Mrs. Edge]

We did tell him, he apologized profusely. We just didn't want to get into a big hassle with them because we are in a townhouse and are attached to them. They could make our life pretty miserable if they wanted to.

We never filed any claims because they promised it wouldn't happen again.

We shall see I guess.

 

[Bono's Betty]

Who the heck keeps their dogs tied up in the front yard when they have a back yard.

 

[starsgoblue]

I'm concerned thier aggression will become worse and someone could get seriously hurt. Dogs that have fatally injured or really hurt someone or another animal have history of plenty of warning signs. It is 100% percent the owners fault as well as thier responsiblilty. Given that this has happened more than once and they haven't adequetley handled the problem, I say fuck diplomacy.

 

[UberBeaver]

I would suggest you stop trying to be nice and do what you have to do - call animal control. They're in the wrong, not you, and if they want to hold a grudge, that's their issue. You're moving anyhow. I would say you've been more than fair and resonable thus far. If the note doesn't help, make some calls.

We had a barking dog next to us for years. He would bark all day and all night. The owners wouldn't do anything, so we contacted the city. The city sent a note, the owners put the dog in some training course. That helped a little, but more importantly, they saw that we weren't going to just sit back and do nothing. It's not like you're friends with these people, right? What's to lose?

 

[Snowlock]

In most cities, chronic dog barking like you described is illegal you could tell the police. Also, if the dog attacks someone it can be destroyed.

The law's on your side, but I know what you mean about keeping the peace when attached to someone.

Maybe you tell them you're gonna play hard ball that could result in the dogs being destroyed (even if you don't mean it) and that would help get the point across.

 

[bonoishot]

Who the heck keeps their dogs tied up in the front yard when they have a back yard.

That is what i'm thinking.

I hope you get something sorted out. I think everyone else has made good suggestions, Animal Control and your realtor are good places to start if you can't work out something with your neighbours. You have been very reasonable so far. Like Starsgoblue said though, it sounds like these people have no idea of how to control there animals. I hope noone else gets hurt by them.

Good luck.

 

[Mr. BAW]

I'll give this one more shot....

Do you have a Homeowner's Association? Can you file a complaint with them? Are there rules as to pets and how they're maintained?

 

[anitram]

Call animal control re: the bites. A phone call from them to your neighbour would usually dissuade a rational person from continuing to act as a pest.

Even though their dogs are barking and it annoys you and even though the dogs may on occasion trespass, most people aren't going to care because the reality is you're not going to litigate this matter. Neighbours act like idiots because people know how expensive it is to retain a lawyer and for what? A nuisance tort? Which has probably little or no chance of succeeding anyway? Plus they know you are leaving and won't bother with actual legal action.

That's why I think your best bet is the animal control and let them deal with it. Hopefully that points out to these two that it's unacceptable and scares them enough to at least temporarily cease and desist (and then they can be somebody else's problem).

 

[Mrs. Edge]

Thanks so much for all the comments everyone!!

We spoke with the HOA and the legal service. Basically we are SOL as long as the dogs are on the neighbour's property. To make matters worse, we are told we are too late to contact Animal Control.

However, we were given one good idea. We know one of the people on the HOA board and we are going to ask if there is a bylaw about dogs tied up on the front lawns. If not, then we are going to ask him to vote one in, because he hates those dogs too.

Meanwhile, we are still trying to decide if we will have one more personal chat, or send the actual note.