# Neighbour possibly poisoning our dogs



## chaosengine74 (Mar 21, 2012)

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and just seeking some advice.

My wife and I recently moved from Australia to Manchester UK with both our dogs. We sold up, packed everything in two suitcases and have started off fresh.

We own a Rottweiler and a Blue Heeler cross.

We've been living here for almost 5 months now. We keep to ourselves, don't bother the neighbours and ensure both our dogs aren't outside before 10am and are indoors around 4-5pm. This ensures the dogs are quiet and free from the colder climate.

Anyway, about 4 weeks ago, whilst we were getting our dogs ready to go for a walk, I noticed our neighbour on the other side of the fence aggravating the dogs and getting them all worked up. He hadn't lived in the house for the entire time since we moved in due to him renovating so it was the first time I'd met him.

I walked to the fence thinking I'd say hello and he instantly barked orders at me to move the dog cage and kennel away from the fence because he didn't want his kids to be scared. He didn't ask, he demanded. So I pointed out I literally had nowhere else to put the cage and he responded with "I don't care where you put it, I don't want it there."

So, I shrugged it off. If he'd been a little more civil I would have had no problem moving the kennel and cage. But, I decided to leave it where it was because of the following reasons

1) When we moved in he had the workmen starting work at 7am and we never complained.
2) When we moved in he had scaffolding on our property which meant we had to pay an extra $1000 in kennel costs because we had to delay the arrival of the dogs. We never complained.
3) If I did meet his demands, he'd probably have more.

I decided I'd put up a visual barrier between the cage and the fence so the dogs couldn't see anyone on the other side. The fence stands at almost 6 feet so you literally have to stick your head over to see my dogs anyway.

At this stage, and to this very day, he still hasn't moved in but both himself and his wife visit the property almost daily.

Now, my Rottweiler has started developing blood in his urine. It's not a lot, but it's there. My wife and I thought it may be too much calcium in his diet so we changed it. Slowly, my dog has been getting more and more restless at night and he's not his usual self. Last Saturday, my wife was alarmed to the noise of the dogs fighting over something. She went out to investigate and found they were fighting over a large piece of chocolate. The chocolate was thrown into the dogs cage from the neighbours back door. There is no other angle of which that chocolate could have come from as the cake and kennel side between both houses. When she examined it, it appeared to have pellets inside it.

She contacted the local council who advised to call the police. The police arrived today and they agree it looks home made and cannot identify the pallets. They also agreed with our concern it may have come from the neighbour due to where the chocolate was found and the position of both houses. The RSPCA haven't been much help and neither was the local vet when we asked to have the pallets examined and tested.

I've started recording footage of the kennel to ensure I get something on video if someone tries to do it again. I'll be taking my Rottweiler to the vet soon to have him checked out.

My problem now is, we sold everything for a new start. Our house, cars, possessions...everything. We paid a lot of money to have our pets with us. I've only been in Manchester 5 months and already I wish I'd never sold my home to come here. I love our new lifestyle, my job and the people here but the thought of someone being so cowardly to hurt my dogs is enough for me to go back to Australia.

I love my dogs and I'd literally kill to defend them but it seems I'm losing faith in the council to protect my dogs and my rights.

I really am thinking of packing up and leaving again. I never had this problem in Australia.


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## IndysMamma (Jan 15, 2009)

Do you still have the pellets/chocolate?

if so call the police again and say you need these testing as may be evidence in a criminal activity - attack on your dogs

also ask the vets when you take him in and give him a sample saying you suspect your dog has been poisoned with it and they should test it to find out what your dog has been exposed to

I'm so sorry that this is the welcome you have had to the UK, we're trying to move because the neighbours we've lived next to for 24 years has become very obnoxios/threatening our pup - but the vast majority of people are perfectly nice


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Poor you. What a warm welcome to this country you have had - no wonder the British are all trying to move to Australia!

Certainly keep the evidence, contact the police again as said and get them to test it. Dogs should not have chocolate anyway; that is poisonous in itself.

I know it is galling, but I would think about moving the dog cage somewhere less accessible to these morons. What is it there for anyway? Are your dogs left outside when you are out at work? They are very vulnerable if so, and I would seriously think about keeping them in the house when there is no one there.

But you will need to keep on at the police and if anything is found, bring charges. I would be tempted to electrify the fence so they get a shock if they touch it, but then you would probably be in trouble. We have some pretty daft laws in this country.

Is there any chance you could make the fence higher? You could possibly add another couple of feet to it but it probably won't stop them if they are determined.


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

Sorry you're having bother with your neighbour, but take your rottie to the vet NOW!!  if he has ingested poison ''soon'' may not be soon enough especailly if he already has some blood in his wee it could be something serious I would take a wee sample with you.


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## 2Hounds (Jun 24, 2009)

What horrible people, i'm sorry that you will at some point have them as your neighbours permanently.

Perhaps it was slug pellets or rat poison i'm surprised it wasn't sent off to be analysed. I guess it could be hard for police to prove it was definitely the neighbour, did they have a word with them?

I think its probably safer to keep the dogs indoors if you can. I take it your leaving them out while your both at work?


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## Pointermum (Jul 2, 2010)

To be honest if they was my dogs there would be no way i would be leaving them outside unsupervised while this is going on. Video the kennel area is a good idea. Sorry your going trough this 

Please take your dog to the vets for a blood test asap


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## DogLove3 (Mar 1, 2012)

What a horrible thing to happen, I would definitely not allow your dogs to be out in the garden on their own at any time and I would keep on at the police as it is too late for them or anyone else to only take action when a dog has been lost over it, as nothing can bring the dog back.
If you are can be almost 100% sure it was them, maybe get a legal letter drafted from a solicitors and sent to them, hopefully it might be enough to frighten them off or make them think twice before doing it again.
I know you are trying to catch them, so are filming in secret, which is a good idea, but maybe it might be good to buy some CCTV in operation signs and put them around your property boundaries to try to deter people.
Also security lights, so if anyone comes near your fence, the lights turn on and light them up.


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## Oenoke (Oct 17, 2009)

I would take your dogs to the vets immediately with some of the chocolate and pellets, I would be concerned the pellets are warfarin (rat poison) and this will cause internal bleeding. I really hope it isn't this and you aren't too late.

I would definately set up video camera, 1 pointing towards the pen and 1 towards your neighbours house.


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## Jugsmalone (Apr 11, 2011)

What horrible nasty people :mad5::mad5: 

We have had someone throwing food over into our yard. I think it is our neighbour. They moved in last year and have never made an effort to get on with us. I don't think the food has poison in it but my dogs fight over food so I have to check the yard before letting them out and keep my eye on them. 

It's great that you have a camera set up to record any food being thrown over the garden. Hopefully it will be of some assistance in gathering evidence.

If you still have the food that you think is poisonous ask the police to take it away and check it. Also keep a diary of anything that you say to the neighbour and vice versa. Note the time the date and people involved. 

With regards to letting the dogs into the garden, what I do is before letting the dogs out is to check the yard all around and then let them out and I watch them from a window. I do this every time the dogs want to go out in the yard. I am considering putting a camera up just so I can find out who it is and ask them to stop doing it. One of my dogs has a food allergy so I don't want him eating pizzas and chips, that's the usual food that gets thrown over. 

Please take your dog to the vets today and get him checked. Blood in urine is not a good sign. 

Please keeps us updated.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Oenoke said:


> I would take your dogs to the vets immediately with some of the chocolate and pellets, I would be concerned the pellets are warfarin (rat poison) and this will cause internal bleeding. I really hope it isn't this and you aren't too late.
> 
> I would definately set up video camera, 1 pointing towards the pen and 1 towards your neighbours house.


I don't think you are allowed to point a video camera toward the neighbour's house without permission; something to do with the data protection act.


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## AcornAntiques (Dec 1, 2011)

newfiesmum said:


> I don't think you are allowed to point a video camera toward the neighbour's house without permission; something to do with the data protection act.


Heard that too, same with cameras pointing onto a public highway. The security cameras can only cover your own property.


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## alyssa_liss (May 4, 2009)

i wouldnt be leaving my dog in the garden TBH . i dont even like max going in the garden unsupervised. Its not worth the risk 

where in manchester are you ? im in manchester 

we have a rule on here btw ... we need dog piccys


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## 5rivers79 (Mar 28, 2011)

Feel for you mate, i know if the neighbours tried something like that with Sam or Luck they'd have hell to pay.


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## Lisaj (Feb 4, 2011)

That's terrible!


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Thats awful  
Sorry you have had such a horrible welcome to the UK.

*Heidi*


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## Paganman (Jul 29, 2011)

Just get out of Manchester!

That's all


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## ozrex (Aug 30, 2011)

Sorry you've got such a dreadful neighbour. I don't know the legal system in the UK so I'm not sure what you can do about him but I hope that there's something.

It must be terribly hard to move to another country and find a prat like him next door but I wouldn't generalise too much. He's a prat. They live in every country in the world. You've not had the experience of having a dog poisoned in Australia and nor have I but according to the papers it has happened. I can remember reading about it, although not the details. There are prats here, mate.

I hope your dogs are OK and people who know the system can help you. There are some great people in the UK too. May one move in next to you instead of the prat.


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

If the police aren't interested in analysing the chocolate/pellet, there are independent laboratories that could. Not sure how you'd find one, but they do exist. You could ask the chemistry department of a local university, they may know of one.

It would be safer for the dogs to be indoors, but you could cover the outdoor pen. I guess it already has a solid roof? Agralan Enviromesh is made for gardeners, to protect crops. It's fine woven nylon mesh that lasts well (mine's been used on the allotment, out in all weather, for about 5 years and is still as good as new) and only liquid, fine powder and air will pass through it. You could fix that around the sides (and top if not roofed) where your neighbour could throw through. Anything thrown over would just sit on it or bounce off, so he'd be giving you more evidence to collect.

CCTV, security lights would be a good deterrant too.


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

And if you could get the stuff analysed and it proved to be poison, the local paper would just love the story about how the police weren't interested.


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## chaosengine74 (Mar 21, 2012)

Thanks for all the advice and support. My Rottweiler is on antibiotics until we get the blood tests back. The police are supportive and will be speaking with the neighbour this coming Thursday. The RSPCA will also be following it up and hopefully direct us to the appropriate lab to have the chocolate tested.

My wife was home when the police arrived and when they spoke to her they asked if she'd like them to speak to the neighbour and advise them of the investigation. She wasn't too sure about this and waited until I got home. We decided it was better to have some intervention rather than hope to catch them on camera. I love my dogs too much to allow an idiot to continue poisoning them.

The police can't really do much at this stage other than let the neighbour know that there's an investigation being conducted regarding possible poisoning. I totally understand the limitations of what they can do and support them with anything they can do to help.

In regard to testing the chocolate, we'd need to seek help from a lab. The police don't do that sort of thing which is understandable. Hopefully the RSPCA will be able to give us some direction.

As yet, the neighbour is unaware of the police and RSPCA looking into it so we limit where the dogs can go in the back yard just incase. We filmed for a little while, which was perfectly legal as long as we didn't have any view outside of the boundary of our property. Didn't get much and realised recording from a computer didn't follow the protocols that qualify it as submissible evidence.

Right now I'm still considering packing up and leaving for Australia. This wouldn't have happened there. I live in Didsbury where we'd chosen to live so the dogs could have a safe, friendly environment. If I'd have known for a second that some pompous, well to do ******* would be cowardly enough to harm my dogs, I'd have never moved here.

I was so angry when my wife found the chocolate. All I could think about on the way home was taking everything I've been trained to do and shanking this idiot. I have a picture of both my dogs on the mantel as pups and that's the first thing I saw when I got home. They were vulnerable as pups and we cared for them both. Raised them in an environment where they've never been hurt or harmed. Never treated badly or neglected. They've never known cruelty. They live and eat better than me because they're our boys. It really upset me that someone would do this.

Hopefully he'll come through without much difficulty.

I found this today. It's sad but also very uplifting.

Amazing Rescue of a Dog Video


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