General Chat

Uses cat flap to get out into the garden & someone feeds it once a day.

Do you think like me that this is cruelty?

yes, in a word. Dogs are social animals they need company. Do you know if this a long-term situation? If it was a day or two there could be an understandable reason like someone going into hospital unexpectedly, but if any longer I would report it to RSPCA.

i would need an elephant flap for my dog
if we go away we pay somebody to stay in our house

mind theres no law to say a dog cant live outside
as long as it has food water and shelter

Rose this has been happening since just before Christmas, the owner comes back for a day or so in the week then just calls in & is gone again.

I will ring RSPCA on Monday morning & talk to them about it.

I would think that if its IS nourished and reasonably well looked after it wont be cruelty,
now if it was chained up outside all the time, that might be.....


Many people have dogs and go to work in the mornibg until sometimes late at night....

you wouldnt complain if it was a cat, presumably?

Bob

No Bob, the cats have moved in with me & the owner has yet to notice.

Carol,
This is totally unacceptable in my view and yes it is cruelty to an animal.
If this has been going on since christmas, then whoever is responsible should be reported as soon as possible.
As Rose said, dogs are sociable animals and to be deprived of this is just so very very cruel.
RSPCA, Police ??

As well as food , shelter and companionship they also need adequate exercise, which it may not be getting ( depending on breed) . I personally believe ( and most vets now do advise) that dogs should be fed twice a day not once.

Carol if you tell the RSPCA and they check with the owner and find the situation acceptable, then fair enough, at least you will have done what you thought was right and what you feel comfortable with. :)

RR.......
our border collie has ONE main meal a day...dry food and gravy bones....plus a little veg from OUR main meal....and all the water she needs.....and she is now six years old and is of a weight that the vet considers adequate.......but I guess that different breeds might need different arrangements,,,,,,
(but dont tell "Er indoors" there is the occasional treat!!)

schmackos.....
Bob

lol Bob collies like schmackos...my former neighbour's collie is a big fan too.

Yes Carol, I think that is cruelty !!
I would report them to the RSPA.

As a child we always had dogs, there was always someone at home.I'm a dog lover ,full stop.

When I married I wanted a dog ,but as hubby and both worked 9 to 5 didn't give a second thought...to have one..being left one it's own..No way.

When my mam died, I took my dad ,who'd always had dogs, to a dog rescue centre,where he picked our beloved Sandy.He was marvelous company for him, and dad walked him 3 times a day.

Unfortunately for dad at 86 he was no longer able to do so ,so wo we had him.The children adored him cos they always wanted a dog.

He was used to being on his own... other than his daily walks, he used to spend most of his days on the landing in dads house where the central heating pipes ran..lol..Dad was downstairs..

My children were home from school at 3.30 and he had his usual 3 day walks,me at 7.30am,hubby at 5.30 and me again at late evening.

Rescue Centre think he was about 18mths when we had him and if thats right, he lived to the ripe old age of 18. He's buried at the bottom of my garden,where I can see out of my kitchen window.:)

Poor dog, it's not being treated properly.
The chap next door has two springer spaniels, he is out a lot but his elderly dad comes round to walk them and spend a little time with them and the chap is home later in the day and walks them again. However they are left shut in a small conservatory most of the time when alone and have a flap to get out. They bark at anything and everything and of course no one around to see to them when they do that.

When the second dog was just a pup, the neighbour picked it up from the breeder, brought it home and an hour later went out for the night to his girlfriend's who had bought the pup for his 40th birthday. ( He spends every Tuesday night with her and sometimes another night as well. He didn't mention to us about the puppy so in the early hours when we heard a dog crying we went out and looked over the fence, in case some thing was wrong with the dog we knew. We were amazed to see a tiny puppy in the conservatory and the other dog was just standing looking bewildered.
How ignorant to leave a new pup on it's own. It's the kind of person he is, really stupid.

Hope the RSPCA come out and give the owner of the dog a stiff talking to and warning him to look after his animal better.

Lizx

Doubt you'll get any joy from the RSPCA about it tbh.

Few years back I phoned the RSPCA as there was a dog being left in a hot conservatory in the middle of a boiling hot summer for up to 8 hrs a day.

They went round and checked and because there was adequate water provided they took no further action.

I wouldn't necessarily say it was cruelty...that's probably a bit too strong a word...but it's certainly not being fair on the dog x

Playing devil's advocate here.
Would it be possible to talk to the person who feeds the dog to find out what the situation is before jumping in feet first?

As Rose has said, perhaps someone is in hospital - not the owner, but perhaps the owner has to look after an elderly/ill/dying relation.
Say an elderly relation had a fall and broke their hip just before Christmas.
They'd have the op, then come out - and need to be looked after for a couple of months.
You could argue - why not take the dog? Perhaps the other person is allergic. Perhaps the relative is in a hospice miles away, and the owner is staying in B&B.
The owner has made arrangements for the animals to be fed, they come back a couple of times a week to check on them - the animals aren't abandoned. As for being fed once a day - that could be because of the situation or maybe the animals have always been fed once a day - they could (like my cats) have dried food permanently down.
Does the dog howl? Does it look distressed?
I presume it's a small dog to get in and out through the cat flap. It can exercise itself by running around the garden - and gets company - albeit for a short time - from whoever feeds it.
As for the cats moving out - they're chancers. I've had much loved cats from the neighbourhood trying to move in - despite the sharp objections from my own cats - so much so, in fact ,that I now have to lock my cats in at night so I don't come across various cats 'making themselves at home' on my furniture in the morning!!

I would say that the owner must care if he is taking the trouble to pop back each day to feed the dog etc. The dog is obviously fed & is able to run free in its garden, so cruel isn't a word I'd use. Many people work all day leaving their dogs alone for many hours & the dogs seem happy enough.

Unless you press your nose to the window all day & scrutinise the exact comings & goings of this man, You can't be sure just how long he spends with his dog, if he makes a fuss out it or even gives it a cuddle.

You have already interfered by taking in his cats, who without your interference would no doubt be still using their own cat flap & eating their food supplied by their owner. In his defence, he probably has noticed their absence & come to the conclusion they have made their home elsewhere or at worst been run over & killed..After all you haven't had the decency to tell him where they are.

Claiming those cats as your own, knowing where they have a home so close by is nothing short of stealing IMHO. & it makes me wonder if this man is as bad as you suggest that you want to poke your nose in without knowing all the facts by getting all of his animals taken away from him.

Well I am amazed that you have never bothered to talk to the man , clearly you have seen him ..well you know how often he comes so assume you have been watching ?

lets put this in context
we are talking about a dog
who has food water and shelter

not a small child

my dog thinks nothing
of sitting out in the snow or rain (his choice )
he can come in or out from the garden as he pleases

as for the cats its common knowledge
cats sometimes have two homes
strays cat comes and goes here at will
i might feed her and let her sleep sometimes in my bed
but she will never be my cat because she is strays cat

I may be wrong but I detect an undercurrent here. 'Interfering' is one thing, 'being concerned' is another and there is a fine line between the two. depending on whose perspective you are looking from!

As I said before if the RSPCA see everything as ok, there is no harm done is there? Leaving it and then feeling awful if it's established there WAS any degree of neglect is worse than a bit of embarrassment that you might be seen as 'interfering'.

I have called them a couple of times myself, not undertaken lightly, and in the cases it was 'neglect' rather than outright cruelty (cats that had food put out and shelter of sorts though inadequate, but were suffering from a genetic disease caused by uncontrolled inbreeding, and suffering as a result, unable to eat, and in clear distress which the owners either ignored or just did not 'understand')

As for healthy cats, they are a thing apart lol, they are much more independent in nature and habit, even the stay at home ones are happy to pop next door on the chance of a bit of extra food lol. Mine did and they were stuffed to the gills lol.

Undercurrent ?

Just giving an opinion which is not unlike some others on this thread but may differ from some other opinions stated.

IMHO Interfering in this case is "adopting" the cats from next door by actively encouraging them into ones own home on a permanent basis & declining to tell their owner where they are.

Carol has already stated the owner comes back for a couple of days, then after that pops in and goes again.
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"The owner comes back for a day or so in the week then just calls in & is gone again."
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What business is it of anybody's that this mans circumstances may have changed enough to take him out of his home at certain times of the week ? The dog is fed & watered, and has access to the garden & back in again & has some time with its owner the few days he's at home..

The dog also had the company of some cats who used to live there, but someone has thoughtlessly encouraged them away from their home, and the dog.

well as I said , Mildred, it is a fine dividing line...personally if someone were concerned about the welfare of one of my pets I would rather they asked me directly, or if they felt unable to do so, ask the RSPCA for advice, that is what they are there for.

"What business is it of anybody's...." theoretically none. Theoretically whatever we do , within the law, is no one else's business....

i would 'assume' and it is an assumption, that if the owner has not gone looking for the cats then he is well aware of where they are already. I don't doubt that if that is the case. and he was concerned about it, he would have been round to collect them? I would.

NONE of us know the specifics, not even the breed of dog...or the size of the catflap / garden/ amount of food, time spent incompany, exercise etc so without the opinion of an 'expert in the field' it's all guess work isn't it.