No reactive dog thing but I do need advice please

[erinandrew]

So my ex roommate (j) now lives below me with a new roommate (A), and I A has a dog.

Now I normally don't tend to interfere with people but when it comes to animals I have the urge to interfere. So A decided a few months back to get another dog yr and a half old border collie (after not taking care of 6 previous dogs) as an emotional support animal. Which is fine I have 2 myself. But what isn't fine is that A doesn't take the dog out, allows it to use the apartment as a bathroom, leaves it alone for upwards of 16 hours, mind you she is 25 pounds soaking wet, doesn't do anything with her. The poor dog has separation anxiety barks all the time while her owner (A) spends from 8 am- 10pm working then out drinking. The dog is severely underweight. You can feel and see her ribs, spine, and hips. The dog won't eat for A so A chooses to save bacon fat and puts about 1/2 cup on the dogs food twice a day forcing a starves dog to eat 4 month old dry dog food. Then A leaves without taking the dog out. The dog gets no exercise and no love or attention.

What can I do? I can't call animal control because A has connections with all different people including the lead person at the humane society and knows most of the police force as her step dad served.

I have a key to access that apartment and have really wanted to steal the dog and take her to a city a few hours away and drop her at a shelter.

What should I do? The dog doesn't deserve this and if she keeps being fed bacon grease she will get pancreatitis.. the poor thing already has constant diarrhea.

 

[gffg2019]

@erinandrew I would still call animal control or the police.

 

[boragard]

@erinandrew You still call animal help services. Even if they were a cop they’re not above the law.

I don’t understand how A works at a humane society and shows such gross negligence to dogs. Would be like a cleaner getting home from work to a garbage dump.

 

[maxedwell]

@erinandrew Other subs might have more input, but I would contact your landlord. Some landlords don't want to mess with ESA owners, but the ESA rights end when the dog starts destroying property or causing a noise disturbance. And the dog peeing and pooping in that apartment is going to do a lot of damage. Security deposits usually don't even begin to cover the cost of replacing carpets etc. (Source- family in real estate). This may or may not help the dog, which is the ultimate goal. Hopefully the dog would be rehomed, or else the owner will move to a new place.

I feel for you though... I lived in that exact situation but it was a 10 week puppy. I was in student housing though so I just got moved to a different apartment.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@erinandrew I would also say call animal control and the police for abuse and see how that plays out but I know how easy it is for people to get away with that stuff. Honestly the discreetly taking the dog to a rescue a city away would be good. At the end of the day, it’s the dog’s life that matters but you could get caught. Is there any way you can compile undeniable evidence of the abuse?

 

[erinandrew]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Unfortunately I can't. She acts like she is the prefect dog mom to all her friends and she regularly cleans up the floors and the couch. Minus the smell. And she denies leaving the dog for hours. And technically it's not abuse in Wisconsin. She has food (left out 24/7) and has water even if it's only a little. And she isn't without shelter either. So I'm not sure what to do honestly.

 

[tiernon]

@erinandrew Can you get videos/pictures of the dog's condition? If you have A's cellphone number, then strike up a few casual, friendly conversations in which you ask her to explain how she's feeding the dog, what time she finally got home from the club last night, what the vet has to say about her dog's weight and chronic diarrhea... I know there's not a vet involved, just like you know the answers to all of those other questions. The point is to accumulate damning evidence of what's going on. Even if it might not technically be considered animal abuse, that doesn't mean you can't damage A's reputation and get her animal welfare connections to pressure her into surrendering her dog.

Oh, here's another thought: do you have a friend that A would never recognize? Because you could claim that the dog "accidentally" escaped her apartment and have that friend turn the dog in at the humane society lead by A's friend. Or maybe that person could drop the dog off at the police station, claiming to have found the dog roaming.

Rescuing this dog wouldn't do anything to prevent A from torturing another one.

 

[erinandrew]

@tiernon That's true. And I regularly go downstairs and care for the dog so the poor thing doesn't die. And the dog escapes regularly because she doesn't lock the broken side door. And the cops have been called 3 times and all they do is put the dog back in the house and call her to let her know now. It's truly disgusting how lenient they are. And the landlord knows but we live in a overpriced slum apartment complex so that did jack sh*t.

 

[tiernon]

@erinandrew Yeah, have someone turn the dog in to the humane society. It's pitiful that the cops are holding up the "thin blue line" at the expense of a starving dog, but apparently she can't be shamed on that front.

 

[erinandrew]

@tiernon Thank you.

 

[quant]

@erinandrew The next time the dog gets out, drop it at the pound. If her dog keeps getting loose and being dropped off by different neighbors/friends, eventually even her connections are going to notice the dog's condition and and her failure to contain it.

If she's too "connected" with the local cops to get a complaint against her taken seriously, committing multiple property crimes against her (b&e, theft) is an even worse idea than that course of action usually is - which is saying something.

You mention that your landlord is a slumlord who doesn't care about the dog diarrhea in the house, but is there any kind of city inspection you could contact? He might start to care a lot if he gets a call from code enforcement about major safety/hygiene violations that could get him fined/shut down.