RSPCA equivalent - or am I being too British?

[overmonnow]

Hello,

We have been living in our house for nearly two months now, and there is an absolutely adorable dog next door.  Sadly, his owners have, to our knowledge (and I'm at home all day) not walked him once, not let him in the house either, and only throw out a half-baguette for him to eat (not every day).

My husband thinks it foolish to try and do something about it, but he is soooooooo unhappy!  He howls (like an air raid siren) throughout the day and night, his ribs are showing through and he shakes all the time.  His garden is covered in poo which he is walking through constantly!  It's just NOT right.  I have bought some Bonios, which he is loving to bits, (now taking from my hand) and he is starting to cuddle me as well through the fence.  I just HATE the way he is being treated and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do! 

In the UK I would have had no qualms about phoining the RSPCA under these circumstances, but I have no idea whether there is one over here - and if there is, do they speak English?  I'm still learning and my language would not be up to a phone call like this...

Am I being too British?  Too soft?

Your opinions would be appreciated,  Emma-Jane

[Punch]

Hi Emma Jane,

There is a similar organisation called the SPA (Societé Proctectrice des Animaux). A simple google search should find their details/website. It is unlikely (although possible!) that they speak English but you could always ask a French friend/neighbour to go along with you. I hope you get something resolved. There is no excuse for anyone to illtreat their animals.

Regards,

Paul

[Punch]

Hi Emma Jane,

There is a similar organisation called the SPA (Societé Proctectrice des Animaux). A simple google search should find their details/website. It is unlikely (although possible!) that they speak English but you could always ask a French friend/neighbour to go along with you. I hope you get something resolved. There is no excuse for anyone to illtreat their animals.

Regards,

Paul

[Catalpa]

Can you approach the owners direct, not necessarily opening the discussion with: you are inflicting cruelty and stop immediately or I will report you! but more along the lines of: you can't take on a dog yourself but you've made friends with their dog and wonder if you can take him for a walk... that the exercise would be good for you and you would enjoy the dog's company... whatever. Then you could effect some change for the better in the dog's life and possibly begin to gently educate the owners. Of course, a difficulty with this approach may be that the dog has never clapped eyes on a lead and you'd first have to teach it. I do realise this chatty approach may not be an option for you.

Expanding the subject slightly, it seems quite usual to see French families owning an indoor pet dog and a outdoor guard dog treating the two animals quite differently. The small, spoilt-rotten house pet gets petted, cuddled and over-fed with treats while there's a larger animal leading a parallel life outside, chained, not exercised, and seemingly more-or-less ignored. The other thing I've seen is a couple of farm dogs locally who clearly have burgeoning tumours which are apparently being ignored.

It's a different attitude and perhaps one that, circumstances allowing, us incomers can influence a little over time. Although, there's plenty of casual cruelty that British people mete out to their animals. Never get me on the subject of sad little guinea pigs living out short, solo lives incarcerated and ignored in gloomy, cold garages.

Carole

[Alexis]

I have every sympathy with the poor dog but please take care.  These are your neighbours and your life could be an absolute misery if you cross them.  I assume that they have lived there for years and know everyone and you will just be the troublecausing newcomers.  I know of one case were someone reported his neighbour for something and for the next four years he had the biggest muck heap under his sitting room window you have ever seen.  Talk about flies.  Then drains became blocked, backing back into his garden.  Tyres slashed.  It was a nightmare for them.

It is true what the other poster says (sorry, forgot who you are) the French do not treat their animals like we do.  It is not unusual to see a dog tied up all day and never let off for a walk.

 

[I1]

As a slight aside, I have noticed that the French attitude to dogs is slightly different to that in the UK. Whilst the case mentioned above sounds quite extreme, my comment here is a more general nature.

In the UK, choke collars are becoming rarer, most dog trainers not allowing them, yet they are “the norm” in France. I went to a training session in the UK (with my dog”) and somebody smacked their dog as he would not stop barking (not abusively, and not hard”), and they were virtually thrown out of the class. In the UK there is a campaign to make electric shock collars illegal but even so they are pretty rare. In France my local supermarket pet department has a display of 6 different types. The above are examples of what in my experience is a different approach, easiest described by examples. Maybe it’s a bit like the “Barbara Woodhouse” training techniques.

Whilst I do have my opinions about French “training methods”, here I’m just commenting/observing rather than passing any sort of judgement. I personally have always had better results with my own dogs being kind and without using any form of force (though I might shout on occasions).

[Frenchy]

Hi Emma-Jane, I can totally sympathise with your situation and I certainly don't think you are being too British or too soft only a kind person. They are the ones that should be embarrassed and are not normal. I am going through the exact same situation as you, our neighbour has this poor little dog on a very short chain spends all day laying on top of a log in an old woodpile near the road. I am not sure how he is being fed but is terribly thin and the poor thing has so little slack on the chain that it must be hard for him to move around properly. Fortunately, I only see him when I am driving by, I always stop just to have a look and sure enough he is always there, I hear him barking throughout the day. My husband feels as yours and is very worried about causing trouble as we are newcomers of only a few months and only visit at the moment. The only thing I have done up to this point (very cowardly must admit) is put a note in their post box saying "Tres triste pour votre chien" with an upside down smiley face with tears. However, they could probably guess who it is and of course it had no effect. We are going back for Christmas and I am sure I will find it very difficult to do nothing. I also would like to report them so I may take Punch's advise however I too will have a problem if they do not speak English. By the way I1, speaking of how they train dogs in France, again in my car driving along behind some other cars, I saw this man walking holding some sort whip, the dog was following behind him by several feet literally cowering, luckily I didn't see him actually beat him.

[Frenchy]

Hi Emma-Jane, I can totally sympathise with your situation and I certainly don't think you are being too British or too soft only a kind person. They are the ones that should be embarrassed and are not normal. I am going through the exact same situation as you, our neighbour has this poor little dog on a very short chain spends all day laying on top of a log in an old woodpile near the road. I am not sure how he is being fed but is terribly thin and the poor thing has so little slack on the chain that it must be hard for him to move around properly. Fortunately, I only see him when I am driving by, I always stop just to have a look and sure enough he is always there, I hear him barking throughout the day. My husband feels as yours and is very worried about causing trouble as we are newcomers of only a few months and only visit at the moment. The only thing I have done up to this point (very cowardly must admit) is put a note in their post box saying "Tres triste pour votre chien" with an upside down smiley face with tears. However, they could probably guess who it is and of course it had no effect. We are going back for Christmas and I am sure I will find it very difficult to do nothing. I also would like to report them so I may take Punch's advise however I too will have a problem if they do not speak English. By the way I1, speaking of how they train dogs in France, again in my car driving along behind some other cars, I saw this man walking holding some sort whip, the dog was following behind him by several feet literally cowering, luckily I didn't see him actually beat him.

[Chouette]

Sadly what you are witnessing is all too common in France and it breaks my heart.  I would definitely contact the SPA if I were you and see what they advise/do. 

In my village there are numerous dogs and the vast majority of them are just left outside all day, everyday, sometimes without a kennel, sometimes chained and they are never taken out for walks.  Our neighbours regularly go away for weekends in the summer and leave their lovely dog all on his own - his howls are heart wrenching    I think I'm viewed as a bit odd as I take my dog out for a long walk everyday, come rain or shine and I do get some funny looks as if they are thinking there's that strange English woman again  

I just don't understand why they choose to have dogs in the first place.  It's not as if they need them for security around these parts as there's virtually no crime.  It's a mystery to me and I've just had to try and harden my heart and not let it get to me, though of course if I saw blatant cruelty I would have to do something   

[Maddie]

From what I have experienced here only "townies" actually seem to take their dogs out for a walk on a lead.  I have two and rarely do we actually go out for walks on the lead but we do have a lot of land and play ball, practice our agility and obedience etc, dig huge holes, swim in ponds and swimming pools (!) on our own land.  My dogs have plenty of stimulation from me, my hubby, visitors, neighbours, their surroundings and the dog club we go to so I do not see that it is necessary to take them out for walks every day as we did when we had a tiny garden in the UK.

I also have a neighbour who seems to keep his 2 dogs locked in a pen, albeit with kennel, a tree and places to lie in the shade and shelter from the rain.  I thought that these dogs were never taken out.  I discovered only the other morning (much earlier than I normally am out and about) that both dogs were happily playing in the farm yard and that they were, in fact, dogs used to herd the cattle to and from the pasture.  They had probably been out and about running around long before I got up.  It could be the case with many of these dogs you see tied up or shut in runs around the countryside.  I am glad I found out the facts before I made a fool out of myself and upset my neighbour.