Should I call Animal Control???

[Sevens]

Ok, so I live in a neighborhood that is "up and coming", but still pretty rough. Most people on my street are ok, but many still don't know how to treat dogs. If they are over 40 pounds, they are mostly chained in the backyards. Even in BAD weather.

The people next to me have 2 dogs. A really matted chow chow and a pit bull type dog chained up to sad looking dog houses in the backyard. I have never talked to them before. It's a granny and her kids and grankids in and out of there all the time. Their back yard looks like a junkyard threw up in it. I have seen them bring out food and water to the dogs.

I was out on the 2nd story of my deck this morning and noticed that the pit bull dog looks very thin. You can count all of his ribs. Also, he was busying himself this morning tearing out a section of their privacy fence. He had cleared a section as wide as he was, but he couldn't get through it because of the heavy chain he's on.

My question is, should I call Animal Control on them? A friend in the neighborhood told me that Animal Control is not very responsive anymore there cause most of the owners are stupid and mean to them when they show up. Also, I am afraid that even if I do it anonymously, they would still know it is me cause my 2nd story deck is the only way to look into their yard because of the privacy fence. However, if I call and say I was just a person walking down the alley behind the fence and looked in the hole from this morning, that might work. Also, there is a lesbian couple who lives on the corner 4 houses down and one of them just started working for Animal Control a week ago, maybe I could get her to go talk to Granny, they've lived in the neighborhood for 10 years and are very active in neighborhood activities, block parties, clean-ups, etc.

My concern in all this is retaliation. I am afraid they might screw up our cars, our house, or toss some poisoned meat over the fence for Guinness to eat if they thought it was us.

I just lost Bailey almost 2 months ago, I couldn't bear losing Guinness.

What do ya'll think I should do? Thanks in advance for your advice.

[lizbud]

If you have concerns about the dogs, I would make the call.
I've also had to call Animal Control a few times myself. They do
treat all the information as confidential. You probably will never be
contacted at all. Here, after you call, you are given a tracking number in case you want to check back on the progress of the incident. Don't be afraid to make the call if you really have concerns about the animals welfare. Good luck with this.:)

[senorita02]

I would make the call!

Last summer i was working for a friend planting flowers and behind her house there was a Rottweiler about 1 year old, he started looking very thin and i knew the owners were not caring for him properly by the likes of their yard and he was always out in the very hot weather with no water. I drove around the block and got their address and had planned on calling the Animal Control, and i was also afraid they would know it was me or my friend, so i decided to think about it some more, well a week later, the dog was not there, and i found out he had died of Parvo.
i cried i was so upset, that i hadnt called earlier, not that it was my fault but had i made the call sooner maybe he could of had a chance, but the people just didnt care, anyway, i think the dog may need help. so i think u should call.

[PJ's Mom]

I think you should call.

[bckrazy]

you should definitely call, and if you're afriad for Guiness be sure to inspect your yard and supervise his visits outside. It sounds like they have just forgotten to take care of their dogs, and probably wouldn't care much if they were siezed. The chow might also be starving, but it could be hard to tell through all of the matted fur :( I'm really sorry you have to see such horrible neglect around you, and I feel so sorry for those pups..

[Sevens]

Well, I did end up calling Animal Control. They said they would send out an investigator.

I don't think their dogs will be seized, I just think that this might be a wake up call to them that they should be treating them much better than they have.

I noticed when I got home tonite that the fence had been put back up.

I don't know if Animal Control came out to their place tonite cause it was very close to 5pm when I called which is when they closed. Then again, we are literally within blocks away from the Animal Control office, so maybe they talked to them already. I don't know, if they come out tomorrow, the fence won't look like anything happened and that was a big part of my complaint.

*Sigh* why can't all people treat their dogs the way we Pet Talkers do?:(

[Karen]

I am glad you called. I'd keep an eye on that poor Pittie - if he doesn't start putting on weight, call for a follow-up. And a matted Chow? Poor baby, that must be soooo uncomfortable! If people don't want to have a dog, they SHOULDN'T! I know - can we let the dogs in the house, and have the people spend the night outside? Just once?

I, too, wish every animal had a home like a Pet Talker's home. People used to joke around my parents that if there was reincarnation, they'd wanna come back as a pet in OUR house!

[Corinna]

I too am glad you called. I hear frome my friends all the time that they want to come back as one of my pets too.

[Oggyflute]

Glad you called mate. Might be an idea to have a quiet word with your neighbours who work for Animal Control as well, just to try and keep them abreast of things.

[lizbud]

I'm glad you made the call. Good for you.:) If nothing else
it does show them that people care and do notice. Some folks
only listen when "authorities" speak to them.