Across the road from my house there is the most beautiful white dog i've ever seen. It's either a Siberian Husky or an Alaskan Mamalute (very similar) and I have a problem with how it's treated.

The house i'm talking about has taken off their typical garage door and replaced it with a gate. This dog lives in there, constantly against the front gate looking out onto the street. Every time I look over the dog is there. It sleeps out there day and night. I've never seen it with its owner or receiving any attention. As some of you probably know, both aforementioned breeds require much more exercise than most dogs, yet this one is constantly sitting down because it has nowhere to go. I assume it gets depressed because of this.

I do not know the owners despite them being neighbors and I do not think they deserve to own such a beautiful animal, that most likely spends its time crying because of its conditions. It's probably well fed, because it looks it, but then this may be because it's getting no exercise. We've never seen anybody walk the dog and my parents have even considered going over and asking them if we could walk it, but we haven't because it's pretty rude (and weird).

I have considered calling the RSPCA but after a little research on the internet (including this forum) I've noticed that many people hate the RSPCA, and with good reason. What if the RSPCA couldn't house it, would it face being put down? What if they did nothing? This seems the most likely option. The reality is that this dog may be better left where it is.

I've not always lived in this house (belonging to my parents) as i've been away at university, but I've obviously been 'home' many times and every time this dog has been sitting in the same place, for years. For all I know he may go into the house for an hour every day, or the garden. The thing is, I don't think this is the case. Also it won't get cold in winter when it sleeps outside because it's built for cold weather.

I really want the best outcome for the dog, especially as I have a soft spot for his kind and I want one in the future when I have the right environment of my own to raise it. So should I call the RSPCA (I don't know of any alternatives with any power) or should I just leave it be?

White Malamutes are pretty rare although not unheard of, Could be a Siberan they can be white, although Im suprised its not liberated itself over the years as a full sibe and a bored lonely one at that is usually more than capable of jumping a 6ft plus fence or digging its way out. If its got a longer thicker coat and pure white it might even be a samoyed.

There is an animal welfare act now, where certain criteria has to be met, so there is likely more then enough for RSPCA to warrant a visit, I have known the RSPCA getting dogs signed over in the same situation. You could put in a phone call and see what they say, Sometimes they do an Educational visit first, if theere are not happy with the way the dogs kept they make reccomendations on improvements and then come back to check. So probably worth a call, especially if the dog does have such a sad boring life.

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His 'enclosure' is literally a normal garage with a gate instead of a door. The metal gate is rather sturdy and it extends to the roof, also beneath him is concrete. I have never seen the back of the garage so I can't account for any features there may or may not be there. I'm under the strong impression that he's trapped there, and most likely learned long ago that he cannot dig or jump out of this one. In fact i'm willing to wager that his adventurous nature landed him in this cage in the first place. The owners are clearly not prepared to take care of him properly.

As for his true species, I cannot tell you. He is pure white and he does appear to have a very thick fur, but i've never been close enough to tell for sure. Perhaps when the owners leave next I'll go and say hi to him through the gate.

I probably should make the phonecall, but I will wait until I can speak to my parents first, because it's their neighbor and I'd rather they agree with me (fairly confident they will).
I just hope that any future for him at the RSPCA isn't any worse than his current predicament.

By the way I love your dogs. They're exactly what I want.

Have you seen the people who live there? If they look like normal, decent folk then personally my first port of call would probably be knocking on and having a word with them, find out their side of things first. Maybe they just don't understand the needs of the dog, and as you mentioned you're not watching the dog 24/7 so it's possible it does get some attention and exercise (although unlikely from what you've said!) Obviously they could be complete kn*bs and could have a right go at you though. You don't know these people very well, but you definitely know them a lot better than I do so it's a judgement call on your behalf whether you think they'd be aggressive towards you for questioning their treatment of their dog, or whether they'd be understanding and willing to listen to and possibly address your concerns.

I know personally if a neighbour was concerned about my dogs I would rather they knocked on the door and were polite and clearly only interested in the welfare of my dog and not judging me, questioning my ability to look after a dog etc then I would be willing to speak to them about their worries.

Obviously the only problem with going to speak to them first is that realistically, you cannot do an anonymous call to the RSPCA afterwards, because unless they're complete and utter morons making the link between "person came to my house asking about my dogs welfare" and "RSPCA have just been round after an anonymous tip-off" should be fairly easy!

Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

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i dont know where you live but if a caring person from pf is near you suggest you invite them to look at this and support you in what you decide.you must do something.contact rspca but keep in touch with inspecter who visits to ensure issue is resolved

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i would put the call in and see what they say

no dog deserves 2 be neglected that way

it pisses me off that people do that

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my pets

Charlie - cat

Jackie - dog

It's either a Husky or Husky x Malamute as there has only ever been one true white Malamute in the UK and he has never been bred from. All that aside I would contact your council dog warden if you have one and if not a community support officer. You can do that by phoning 101, see the link.
Reporting non-emergency crimes using 101 : Directgov - Crime and justice
Poor dog and well done you for keeping an eye on it.

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Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"