cruelty laws question

Hello all, I'm new to the message board, but I was wondering if any one could help with some questions I have.

I live in Philadelphia, PA. Next door to me is a household that has 2 dogs that they keep outside. Rarely do they bring them in, and it is eating away at me. I go out in my yard on a regular basis and sneak them treats in hopes that I might add a few pounds for some insulation.

I've called the SPCA in Philly and they asked was there any kind of shelter out there for them. There is only two plastic dog crate-type houses. They are not insulated and do not have any kind of blankets or anything in them. The SPCA person that took my complaint told me that they only have to provide a shelter, it doesn't have to be perfect. This just kills me! These are living, breathing, beautiful dogs. One is a female German Shepherd and the other is a male small to medium sized dog that has a really thick fur and a curled tail---I'm not sure what breed he is.

Can anyone help with suggestions on some kind of action I can take? I'm actually willing to make lies up to get these dogs rescued--and have thoughts of pulling a clandestine operation in the middle of the night to steal them. It was 4 degrees here the other night and I was screaming at the SPCA person to please help me because they were outside.

I would even like to write to congress or something to try and help get these laws changed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry I wrote such a long message.

I've attached a picture of my baby.

Most locations have regulations that state there must be some sort of shelter, and the shelter must be enclosed on 3 sides. The type of shelter you mention seem to meet that criteria.

The other most important thing a dog needs in very cold weather is unfrozen water. If a dog is well hydrated, well fed, and provided shelter they can tolerate quite a bit of the cold. If the water is frozen then it would seem you could make a legitimate complaint. If the owners are putting out little effort for the dogs the chances are probably large that they are forgetting about the water. If so then call the SPCA about that factor.

The other tact is if the dogs are barking at night due to possible discomfort, then there are noise ordinances you can call in on.

Although I'm prepared to keep mine out during the day even in the teens, I make sure they have something in their bellies, fresh water, and straw in their dog house. I can't imagine wanting to leave them out at night.

I don't know about a permanent, long-term solution but maybe for the moment you could at least hop the fence one night and line the bottom of the cages with old blankets/towels, some straw, or something similar. I'm sure if it was there the owners wouldn't bother to remove it and you may feel somewhat better about it.
Years ago my neighbors had a beautiful Golden Retriever puppy. They didn't abuse him but they paid absolutely no attention to him whatsoever (which in my opinion is close enough). He had a fenced yard but for some reason was still tied to the porch 24/7. I always peeked over to make sure he had fresh water which he often didn't and at night I'd hop the fence and bring him over to play with Bud and Tash. We'd all have a good game and I'd give him some treats, then sneak him back "home". They ended up giving him away (presumably) as I came home from work one day and he was gone, I can only hope he ended up somewhere better! It might sound silly to sneak him over, but there was no talking to these people, we had numerous problems with them long before the puppy showed up.
If people don't want dogs, why do they continue to get them??!!

I also think you should sneek over the fence and make sure they have food and water. Also putting straw in the "houses" wouldn't hurt either.

:( thats so sad, but you can't steal them. In that case, you can be arrested. If you really want to rescue the dogs and the SPCA refuses, try taking pictures of the poor conditions and showing them. OR, you could buy the dogs from them for a small amount of money (they'll probably accept, since it sounds like they couldn't care less about the dogs). The downfall of this is that they'll probably just end up getting more dogs to ignore :rolleyes:

people suck. they really do. >_<

I would start by sending an anonymous packet of info to them in the mail. Even though they are right next door it should go through the post office so they don't immediately suspect a neighbor, or at least which neighbor. This leaves room for you to do other things later without drawing attention to yourself. Here is a website with info you can print out and send them. It's about outside dogs and it gives links to other ways to provide better care for outside dogs by making them inside dogs. I would print out as much as you can and send it to them. If the dogs aren't spayed/neuterd, print out some info on that also and where some low cost places are in your area. If it doesn't look like they pay attention to the info, then do what you have to.

http://www.doggiedoor.com/outside.shtml

This link is a common sense approach about outside dogs:
http://www.critterhaven.org/outsidedog.htm

This is door hanger you can print out and put on their door or put it in the packet. I would navigate this site to find more info you can use.
http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/doorhanger.html

read this link please.

women who steal dogs