Problems with neighbour!

Katie~baby

Sorry its not money saving but i would really appriciate your advice!

My neighbours house is disgusting! Her back garden is like a jungle as is the front. She has a dog who NEVER gets taken for walks so barks constantly cause the poor thing is so frustrated. He cant run about in the back garden because its so overgrown and dirty.

The adjoining fences which are her responsibility are being held up on my side by posts and paving slabs. The dog has chewed through all but 1 fence panel. She said she does not have the time to replace them but i said that if she purchased them my partner would happily fit them. I informed her that they did need doing as the dog had made a MASSIVE hole in 2 of them and entered my garden, ruining all my new plants and crapping on my lawn!

She told me she would get it sorted, this was 6 months ago and still nothing! Now to top it all off one of the front fence panels has smashed. She had huge plants in a ceremaic pot and its somehow got knocked and completely smashed the panel. We moved ithe smashed panel so it was in her garden but she just walked past it for about a month. She mentioned about 6 weeks ago she would get it replaced but nowhere had any fence panels. I knew there was a shortage of fence panels so didnt say much. I popped to the local diy shop at the weekend and they have loads of fence panels.

I dont want to go and spend our money on panels that she should be replacing. We have already replaced the ones on 'our side' to make our garden look nicer. I dont want to have to fork out for new ones for her dog to ruin them and for her to get away with paying for them.

And on top of all that her son informed my partner they are getting another dog! I feel so sorry for the dog they have as it really is NEVER taken out and its obvouisly smashing panels out of sheer frustration!

I know it all sounds trivial but its really doing my head in and making my house look bloody awful! I put a lot of time and effort in to make my house look nice and i feel its being dragged down by her!

Any advice would be great!

Thanks in advance!

Smashing

The dog is clearly doing this out of sheer frustration and boredom so I would advise getting in contact with your local dog warden (details should be on your council website) and letting them know your worries. They should be able to come and visit the owner and give them some (much needed) advice about caring for a dog.

melancholly

anoymously report her to the RSPCA!

spoilt_BUT_appreciate_it

I'm sure my husband is allergic to any kind of DIY but as you said you offered to put them up pnce she purchased them.... so she either doesn't have the money to pay for them or doesn't want to fork out the cash for them at all.

Perhaps suggest she replaces one panel at a time as she gets the funds

spoilt_BUT_appreciate_it

The 6 months delay may just be down to her putting it off until the nicer warmer summer days. Does she have an appropriate vehicle to transport the large panels...? that may be the problem..!

poe.tuesday

what is the real issue here?

the dog not going for a walk?
her untidy garden?
getting another dog?

The issue really is about the fence so you should stick to what is relivant to yoru situation and this is the only thing that you can control

The easy option is to put up a fence on your land with a bit of a gap between the fences, when you put it up you inform her, via letter that you have had no choice but to do this as she has not replaced her fence despite several promises to, you also state that if her fence or animals damage your property (ie your new fence) that you will sue her for the damage

Your other option is to nag and nag her but in reality, are you going to get what you want out of it?

maybe she hasn't got the money to put up a new fence, maybe she doesn't have a van to transport the fence panels or maybe she just can't be bothered, these are all irrelivant as the end result is that she has not put up a fence, so you can sit and wait and get annoyed about it or deal with the issue yourself

Becles

Is there any covenants on the estate - check your house deeds.

In ours the house builder has stated that the front of the house and gardens must be kept in a good state of repair.

Some years ago, next door was a tip. His gardens were all over grown and the windows were rottern with peeling paint. I didn't get involved as I hadn't been here long, but the other neighbours got the council to enforce the covenant. He had to tidy up the gradens and repair the windows and it looks much better now.

Smashing

poe.tuesday wrote: »

what is the real issue here?

the dog not going for a walk?
her untidy garden?
getting another dog?

The issue really is about the fence so you should stick to what is relivant to yoru situation and this is the only thing that you can control

I would usually agree, but in this case there is evidently an animal being neglected here and I for one would not be able to turn a blind eye to such a situaton with a clear conscience.

poe.tuesday

the dog issue is a seperate one and should be dealt as such and only clouds the issue with the fence.

The OP shoudl deal with the fence issue as that is in her control, the replacement of the fence has nothing to do with the dog being neglected and bring it up in conversation with the neighbours only clouds the issue of the fence, stay on track with the issue at hand

as for the dog, why now is it an issue, just because there are other issues that it can be bundled in with

surely the dog issue has been one for some time, why now is the OP raising the issue of the dog? this issue should have been raised with the RSPCA some time ago and maybe it has but if it has not then just a call to the RSPCA would be a good idea

kitekat

Report her to the enviromental health office,and the RSPCA.

becky_sleaf

Oh dear i know exactly how this feels as i had a neighbour who was an absolute nightmare to say the least!
Person in question had two large dogs & 11 cats at one stage as well as a shed full of rabbits & all but the rabbits lived in a 2 bedroom terraced house with her asthmatic 5 year old son.
Anyway,her dog's never got taken out.They had a small court yard garden which was badly kept to run about in. The older dog was never a problem until she got a puppy & then the pair of them howled on & on!
The puppy chewed through our fence panel whilst we were away on our hols & destroyed our bedding plants! She did eventually pay up for the damage (3 months later!)
I once sat crying as the smell of dog poo was so bad outside that i couldnt open my window's for the stink & the amount of flys!
I'd planned a bbq for the day after & i was about to cancel it when i managed to have a word & it did get cleaned up but by her friend not her!
She had a unique way of dealing with getting someone to look after her dogs & other animals whilst she was away...this was to leave the back door open all wke & fill all food & water dishes up & then sod off,leaving them for days on end!
I of course reported her on many occassions to the RSPCA,I'd tell them that her animals had been abandoned etc they would then come out 3 days later :eek: of course she was back home & they didnt see the problem!
The final nail in the coffin was when she deciced to move out of her rented accomodation & go into a hostal (HURRAY!) She knocked on my door & said that all the animals had gone except one cat & would i be kind enough to feed it,when i asked how long for she basically said indefinetly! I said no as i already have a cat & other animals. So i said she'd need to get something sorted. Well her way of sorting it was to remove her collar & just go anyway!
And of course you know what happens next...i feel sorry for it & won't let it starve so i feed it. low & behold another 4 cats turn up within a few days of her leaving all of which are hers!:mad:
I reported her again to the RSPCA who came out & took two away as it was clear that she'd gone & left them,they left me food for the other's & said they'd be back to collect them in a few day's. In the mean time i see her friend,i explain to him that 2 of the cat's have gone & the other's will be following shortly. He obviously then contact's her & she has the cheek to ring the RSPCA & ask what's going on with HER cat's! The following day the RSPCA returned the cat's to next door even though by this stage she'd been gone a month!
It's a shame to say it but after that i hit the roof! I thought the RSPCA were all about making sure animals were looked after!? I told them that i would no longer look after or feed them. I think eventually they all got rehomed anyway.

Anyway i've sounded off on something that bothered me for months! Good luck with your problem neighbour!