Your neighbor never seems to feed the poor dog chained in the backyard.

Your heart goes out to the dog, but what can you do?

The sweet woman up the street feeds the dozen or so stray cats in the neighborhood, but doesn’t provide them with anything else.
You see them get hit by cars or wander around sick and mangy, but what can you do?

Something! When you witness neglect, there are definite steps you can and should take to try to relieve the suffering of that animal.

What is Neglect?

Many times what appears to be neglect seen from over the neighbor’s fence is simply misinterpreted. If you believe the dog has no water or food or inadequate shelter, look very thoroughly at different times of the day to be sure.  

Sometimes food and water bowls are kept inside the shelter to keep them away from bugs or stop them from freezing. Maybe the owner feeds the dog every day before he goes to work at 3am when you’re fast asleep, and then takes the bowl back inside.

Sometimes the shelter is actually a cleverly disguised dog door into the back shed or the garage. Perhaps the dog just prefers to be outside no matter the weather so you never see him go in his door.

And then again, maybe you’re right, and that dog has no choice but to be exposed to snow, rain and sun.

The First Step

If you have any doubts about the care of an animal, call your local humane officer and ask. Humane officers can be anyone in your area who investigates animal abuse such as the humane society’s cruelty investigator or your city’s animal control officer.

If the humane officer agrees that there is a chance or neglect, he should investigate. Don’t worry about your neighbor or friend blaming you for meddling in their affairs. They’ll never know who reported them if you tell the humane officer that you wish to remain anonymous. Don’t approach the pet’s owner yourself unless you’re positive that a friendly, informal chat will make him more caring toward his pet. It’s often better to leave it to a humane officer trained to bring about the best results for the animal. A uniform can command a lot more respect and attention than a good neighbor or friend and without resulting in a defensive in a defensive barrier.

Be available to the humane officer in any way. If he must seize the animal, you might offer to alert him in case the owner gets another pet. If he needs to press cruelty charges against the owner, consider testifying or signing a complaint. In many areas, neglect is nearly impossible to prove without a long-term witness like a neighbor to testify that the neglect was a continuous condition. You may be the only hope for that pet and any future pets that person may acquire.

Never remove a pet from a potentially abusive or neglectful environment yourself. Not only is this illegal, but you haven’t stopped the owner from getting another pet to abuse.

Results

In most states, the anti-cruelty laws are pretty vague. They may require shelter, but not specify what “adequate” shelter is, so the definition is often left up to the district attorney who may know very little about animals.  

The humane officer should be familiar with the local and state laws on animal cruelty. He may appear to moving very slowly on the case, so feel free to ask any questions about how he’s handling it. But don’t be too harsh. Very few states give humane officers any more legal rights than you have. Just like you, they can be ordered off someone’s property and charged with trespassing. They can also get sued for libel and slander just like you, which doesn’t save the pet and jeopardizes the officer’s organization as well.  

If you have any doubts about how the case is going, talk to the director of the agency and read the laws yourself. Call the district attorney and find out the definition of words like “adequate” so you can better understand how and why the humane officer may appear to be taking so long.

 Any humane officer will tell you that 90% of their job is education since neglect is almost always caused by the owner’s ignorance of the pet’s needs.

Although seizure and prosecution may save the one animal, education and understanding can prevent the same neglect from reoccurring with the next pet.

The other major cause of neglect is a complete insensitivity to the animal’s needs. This type usually results in the owner relinquishing the pet to the humane officer rather than being bothered with caring for it.

Prevention

• The key to preventing animal abuse or neglect is education. Many people just aren’t aware of how important affection is to a pet or even that a puppy can outgrow its collar.

• Offer to schedule a speaker from your local humane agency to talk at your church groups or any other clubs you belong to. Do the same for any children’s groups like neighborhood scout groups, day care centers and especially schools.

• Set up a brown bag lecture series at your office on pet care or animal welfare issues conducted by the humane agency.

• Get pet care pamphlets from the agency to distribute to any of your coworkers or friends with new pets.

• Put together puppy packets and kitty kits filled with treats and a pet care book or pamphlets to give to friends who’ve just gotten a new pet. Include spay/neuter information, tags and a vaccination record book. Dog obedience lessons make a great gift for the new puppy.

• Whatever you decide to do, just do it. The suffering of other beings, no matter how many legs they may have, is everyone’s responsibility, especially when the victims can never speak for themselves.

Information provided by American Humane Association