I’ve not had any sleep for about two weeks now so I need to get this off my chest before I kill someone…
A while ago I posted about a disturbing neighbour who despite being an alleged doctor keeps dogs in cages without releasing them for weeks or more at an end, often going a week or more without attending to them at all. Just as I was about to collect evidence of the 20-odd dogs he had in a single cage they all disappeared, having been sold as ‘snake hunting dogs’ from what I found from a little snooping.
I kind of forgot about him until we had a dog in the community barking constantly (and I mean frigging constantly) from 9-10pm until 6-7am and sporadically throughout the day. After a few nights of this I went out to find out if it was a stray that could be persuaded to bugger off with a water hose (apologies to animal lovers, but I’ve already adopted half of the stray dogs in the area and my good nature declines proportionally to the amount of sleep I’m getting). Lo and behold, it’s in a 3’ x 4’ cage outside Mr. Doctor’s house, barking furiously and looking ready to bite anyone within reach.
If I contact the authorities about this is anything likely to be done or will I just be wasting time and making enemies? Is he breaking any laws as far as the law is actually interpreted? I’ve knocked on his door solidly for four days and he’s never there - presumably the cause of the poor dog’s barking. Two days ago we’d had a 48 hour stretch with absolutely no peace or sleep and I ended up going round to his house with a baseball bat. That was a pretty stupid thing to do and I’m glad that he wasn’t in, but anyone who knows me will see just how desperate I’m getting for a good night’s sleep. I don’t know whether to maybe let it out but I’m worried that it’ll go on a rampage and someone will get hurt (especially if that someone is me).
I totally sympathise. Also about the water hose thing; it’s a humane way to keep a dog at bay without making him or her more volatile.
I would say call the authorities (you have the details from other threads, right?). The noise is a nuisance, and the dog has no life and is not being cared for adequately according to the Animal Protection Law (if you are right about the lengthy periods of neglect). The TMIAH will come and give him a warning and then fines. They don’t need to say who filed the complaint.
Looking at the dog in the video, I would say he is little threat to anyone who leaves him alone, as he is displaying fear aggression (keeps to the back of the cage rather than lunging at the front).
And what the hell is a ‘snake hunting dog’? That sounds fishy to me. Or I’m about to learn something new.
Lack of sleep is one sure way to making you do things you wouldn’t normally do. File the complaint now while you can still make rational decisions.
I like this idea. But make sure no one sees you do it. This seems to be how locals communicate that they don’t like something, passive aggressive by our standards, but the owner should get the point. You dont want to make enemies, just convey your discomfort.
You can try using a blanket, a bed sheet, or a very large towel to cover the cage. If the dog can not see outside the cage, he most likely will stop barking. At least, he will bark a whole lot less. Guaranteed.
The dog looks more scared than anything. Covering the cage will help him calm down and feel more secure.
[color=indigo]Not that’s an interesting questions… why keep a dog in a cage? I had this experience with one of our adoption failures a few weeks ago. The lady wanted to keep the dog in a cage all night and the barking bothered the grandparents… which meant adoption failure. But when I think about the various uses of cages, they are not really so bad. My favorite little curry/rice stand family has a poodle who has a cage that sits open in front of their shop. When they are running their business, the dog stays in the cage most of the time. It’s her home, her territory, her private place that us big mammals cannot get into. The dog never barks, and when her guardian says “go into your house” the dog runs back into her cage. When they finish their business day, the dog goes home with them. I would compare this to how many Americans keep their dogs in dog houses or on long chains in their yards. There is a place for a cage and as long as the animal is not being abused, there is nothing wrong with using cages. On the other hand, I just want to say that I would never keep a dog in a cage myself, but I can see how it is useful in some ways. I also had to get a cage to keep some pretty wild kittens in for a few weeks until they stopped biting me![/color]
[quote=“Anubis”]I honestly cannot understand how someone could keep a dog in a cage. Why have the animal if it’s going to be caged up?
WHY HAVE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE? :loco:
I guess there are some things one would just never understand. :s[/quote]
I’ve discussed this with the guy on several occasions, as have two other neighbours who look after stray dogs here (and guess who brought the now-stray dogs into our community in the first place). I have yet to get a rational answer and just get blindsided by nonsense about snakes and how I don’t know what I’m talking about because I’m not a professional dog-keeper.
[quote=“bobepine”]You can try using a blanket, a bed sheet, or a very large towel to cover the cage. If the dog can not see outside the cage, he most likely will stop barking. At least, he will bark a whole lot less. Guaranteed.
The dog looks more scared than anything. Covering the cage will help him calm down and feel more secure.
Sorry to hear about this, llary.[/quote]
Thanks Bob… I’ll try that tonight and attach a note explaining why I’ve done so.
[quote=“Stray Dog”]I totally sympathise. Also about the water hose thing; it’s a humane way to keep a dog at bay without making him or her more volatile.
I would say call the authorities (you have the details from other threads, right?). The noise is a nuisance, and the dog has no life and is not being cared for adequately according to the Animal Protection Law (if you are right about the lengthy periods of neglect). The TMIAH will come and give him a warning and then fines. They don’t need to say who filed the complaint.
Looking at the dog in the video, I would say he is little threat to anyone who leaves him alone, as he is displaying fear aggression (keeps to the back of the cage rather than lunging at the front).
And what the hell is a ‘snake hunting dog’? That sounds fishy to me. Or I’m about to learn something new.
Lack of sleep is one sure way to making you do things you wouldn’t normally do. File the complaint now while you can still make rational decisions.
And where is this exactly?[/quote]
I’m in Da Keng, Taichung. And yep, I still have the details you gave me earlier so I’m going to see where that goes. I’m not worried at all about him knowing who filed the complaint but I would think it’s a little unfair that the entire community is complaining about this guy but it’s left for me to actually do something. A neighbour who lives opposite his house is homebound and has Nosy Neighbour Syndrome so gives me a pretty good account of what he does to his dogs. Apparently he brings dogs in batches and half of them disappear overnight. She reckons they’re dead but there’s no proof of that and it sounds weird even for Taiwan. We do know that he sells some of them and constantly maintains that he’s a ‘professional animal keeper/breeder’ and we don’t know what we’re talking about. I find it frightening that this guy is a doctor and doesn’t understand the very basic principles of humane treatment.
That particular dog has bitten me before as I came out of my house and torn chunks out of two of my dogs. Another one of his dogs which keeps escaping from another cage has bitten me twice. So if I do end up letting her out I’m wearing gloves and asbestos underpants
Also, he’s quite open about the fact that he neuters the dogs himself. Is this even legal without a veterinary license? He obviously doesn’t do a very good job because two dogs he claims to have neutered have since had 14 puppies between them.
I guess I was referring to some of the steel contraptions I’ve seen on the streets here passin as cages. Looks more like a jail cell than a cage, actually.
But I agree with Douglas. You get cages and cages. And then, fortunately, you get pet owners and pet owners!
The key difference he is the dog in your example has the option of entering and leaving the cage. The dog in the OP’s example is permanently housed in a locked cage. A bit different don’t you think?
