I have been considering for some days filing a report to an animal welfare group about the dogs Bear and Ada in the house around the corner, whose side fence is our back fence. Finally, I thought the time had come.

This was not any easy process, as the on-line form required a compulsory “precise time of an act of cruelty”. I wanted to report ongoing neglect and in particular the owners being away for, so far, at least nine days, maybe more, apparently without anyone caring for the needs of the dogs.

I have been feeding them for several days now, and giving them a bucket of water, as well as talking to them. The barking and growling have almost stopped, and the dogs are docile and happy to see me standing on my box looking over the fence as I lower the food to them.

Last night I dropped the basket with the food tray, and it tipped over, upside down on the food. Ada was able to nudge it away so they could eat the food spilled onto the ground, and I was able to use a long wire to hook the basket again and retrieve it.

They quietly watched and showed no aggression. I noticed that Ada wore a “No-Bark” collar, which gives her a zap if she barks. Bear, with no collar, was therefore the barker, and Ada was the one who whined and cried.

I got around the problem of a specific time for an act of cruelty by selecting midnight. The online form required the owners’ full names. Despite introducing myself to them when we moved here five years ago, they did not offer their names.

The form was otherwise almost ready to be submitted.

However …

As mentioned in a previous story, on Monday I lost my mobile phone in its case – which contained my bank cards, driver’s licence, and a few other important cards. I have not yet located it, and by now its battery will be flat. I am losing hope of finding it. I have been feeling a little discouraged!

But …

It was time to take Sunny out to his Therapy Dogs project for today, visiting the disabled young people in their Day Program. He was excited and couldn’t wait to get into the car. I was pleased too, because we both enjoy it. I had a photocopy of my driver’s licence which I tucked into my bag. Better than nothing.

However …

The car would not start. The battery was flat. Of course, my husband was out, and would not be back till mid-evening. Sunny would not let me lift him out of his car seat. As much as a small dog can dig his heels in, he did so. He was wearing his official bib and knew where he was supposed to be going. He finally gave in.

I walked around to another neighbour, whom I will call Harry, who lives on the other side of Bear and Ada’s home, and he kindly phoned the Roadside Assistance for me. They would come and bring a new battery. I also used his phone to ring my husband and asked him to listen out for a phone call from the Roadside Assistance man so he could give our credit card details over the phone for the new battery.

I then went back home to wait. Harry knew the first names of the owners of Bear and Ada, so I completed that field on my form. For family name I used “Unknown”.

Harry is a dog groomer, and of course he loves dogs. He also (like all other neighbours nearby) had been disturbed throughout several nights early last week by the incessant whining and barking of Bear and had been very distressed when I told him that the neighbours between us were still away and that I was now feeding Bear and Ada. He too had noticed how quiet they were these last few days, now that they are being fed. Now he knew why.

Next …

A short while later, while I was waiting for Roadside Assistance, Harry came to my place – with a very angry man in tow. This man was extremely rude and abusive to me – he was the one who was meant to be feeding the dogs. He insisted he had been every night single night to feed them and had given them FOUR bowls of water every day. This absolutely cannot be true.

Harry had told him that I was going to report the neighbours for neglect. How dare I?  I will spare you his language when I told him my viewpoint, (with many shouted interruptions) and insisted I was lying about the dogs.

Several minutes later he left, declaring that I was a “silly woman” and to “go away”, which made me smile as I was standing on my own front porch, and had no means to “go away” as my car battery was flat! His language to Harry had been far worse, and Harry had been threatened with a fistfight.

After their departure, I was a little shaken, and still recovering with a cup of tea, when the Roadside Assistance came. Yes, the battery was dead. Multiple checks of everything. He replaced the battery with a new one. Such relief.

He rang my husband for the payment. The call went to voice mail. Three times. I remembered the card’s sixteen numbers – but not that little three-digit security number on the back of the card.

The Roadside Assistance man had to follow company policy. He took the new battery out, and put the old one back in.  No payment, no battery.

So …

Here I am, with a car that won’t start, no way to get hold of my husband (just wait till he gets home tonight!!!), no phone to contact anyone else to commiserate with me. No Therapy Dogs outing. No comfort shopping. And very worried for Bear and Ada.

I dare say my neighbours will believe the angry man’s story, rather than mine. He was perhaps the woman’s father. I am fully expecting that when they eventually return, they will put one of the “No-bark collars” on Bear as well, so he can’t alert anyone to their distress. It hasn’t been a good week so far.

Time for another cup of tea ....