Neighbours Leaving Food Out, Several Issues Have Arisen, What Can I Do?

Fish Bloke

I live in a housing estate that backs onto fields. We were cutting hedging in our back garden recently and noticed a huge amount of waste food had been thrown over the back wall by our neighbours. Not into our garden, but behind the actual properties. There's no smell to speak of, at least none that reaches the house, but they've clearly been doing it for a while. It's not just compostable foods either.

Today, I found a large cooked chicken bone in my back garden. My dog picked it up and was starting to chew it but I noticed it in time. He's secure in my garden, so I can only assume either my cat or one of the neighourhood cats dragged it in. I peered over the wall and noticed a large pile of cooked bones dumped right outside their back door.

There are several issues at hand here. First of all, there is a quite a severe rat problem where I live. Every so often my cat will go on a spree and bring back several dead or dying baby rats. Every time this happens I put down poison (safely away from pets) and it subsides for a while. They've been coming back in large numbers for a while now however and it seems I may have found out why. Squirrels have also been settling in the area, and they bring problems of their own.

As a pet owner I'm concerned about the rats and the threat they pose not just to my pets but to other pets in the area. My own cat was attacked a few months ago and his ear was badly torn and our vet suggested he may have been bitten by a rat. This is not even to mention the cost to me to get rid of the rats every time they come back and the health threats they pose to humans in the area too.

As an owner of a dog and a cat, I'm also very worried about cooked chicken bones being left out like this. Unless they were actually thrown over our wall (which actually has happened with these neighbours before unfortunately) they're being taken by my cat or neighbouring cats and subsequently being found by my dog. Most pet owners know the dangers involved in feeding cooked bones.

I'm unsure what steps to take about this. Is there any kind of law in place regarding dumping food over their back wall or even in their garden like this? Most people in the area will throw over grass cuttings and the like every once in a while, but nothing that won't biodegrade safely and quickly. Surely dumping food waste like this, without intent to compost it properly, is a health hazard.

In terms of the bones, what can I do? I would feel like a scumbag calling to their door to tell them I've been looking over the wall and have noticed what they've been doing. I wouldn't know if I hadn't found their waste in my garden however.

Also, just in case anyone raises the point, I'm aware that my cat is in fact trespassing on their property. Unfortunately, most cat owners let their cats have some degree of outdoor freedom and this is bound to happen. Even if I were to keep my own cat in, other cats would still have access to the food and bones and would be able to take them into my garden. The rats would still be an issue, possibly an even more serious one as my own cat does his bit in keeping them at bay.

Any idea on how to approach this would be greatly appreciated. I will talk with the neighbours, I'm just not sure how to broach the subject. If they refuse to come to an agreement, are there any laws in place that might be on my side?

(Just a quick note. I started this thread with view to asking pet owners for advice about my own pets getting hold of bones dumped by my neighbour. Looking at the thread now, I'm not sure that it fits into this subforum. If mods don't feel this is an appropriate subforum for this topic, please feel free to move it to wherever it should be instead.)

cypressg

Call into them and ask them have they seen many rats about as your place is starting to get infested,say nothing about the rubbish.

kylith

cypressg wrote: »

Call into them and ask them have they seen many rats about as your place is starting to get infested,say nothing about the rubbish.

I agree. Next time you see them ask them if they have any idea who could be dumping rubbish behind the houses, because you've noticed that your cat brings home a lot of rats/you've seen a lot of rats/the smell is appalling/whatever. Don't bring up anything about what they do in their own garden.

Pretzill

Fish Bloke wrote: »

I live in a housing estate that backs onto fields. We were cutting hedging in our back garden recently and noticed a huge amount of waste food had been thrown over the back wall by our neighbours. Not into our garden, but behind the actual properties. There's no smell to speak of, at least none that reaches the house, but they've clearly been doing it for a while. It's not just compostable foods either.

Today, I found a large cooked chicken bone in my back garden. My dog picked it up and was starting to chew it but I noticed it in time. He's secure in my garden, so I can only assume either my cat or one of the neighourhood cats dragged it in. I peered over the wall and noticed a large pile of cooked bones dumped right outside their back door.

There are several issues at hand here. First of all, there is a quite a severe rat problem where I live. Every so often my cat will go on a spree and bring back several dead or dying baby rats. Every time this happens I put down poison (safely away from pets) and it subsides for a while. They've been coming back in large numbers for a while now however and it seems I may have found out why. Squirrels have also been settling in the area, and they bring problems of their own.

As a pet owner I'm concerned about the rats and the threat they pose not just to my pets but to other pets in the area. My own cat was attacked a few months ago and his ear was badly torn and our vet suggested he may have been bitten by a rat. This is not even to mention the cost to me to get rid of the rats every time they come back and the health threats they pose to humans in the area too.

As an owner of a dog and a cat, I'm also very worried about cooked chicken bones being left out like this. Unless they were actually thrown over our wall (which actually has happened with these neighbours before unfortunately) they're being taken by my cat or neighbouring cats and subsequently being found by my dog. Most pet owners know the dangers involved in feeding cooked bones.

I'm unsure what steps to take about this. Is there any kind of law in place regarding dumping food over their back wall or even in their garden like this? Most people in the area will throw over grass cuttings and the like every once in a while, but nothing that won't biodegrade safely and quickly. Surely dumping food waste like this, without intent to compost it properly, is a health hazard.

In terms of the bones, what can I do? I would feel like a scumbag calling to their door to tell them I've been looking over the wall and have noticed what they've been doing. I wouldn't know if I hadn't found their waste in my garden however.

Also, just in case anyone raises the point, I'm aware that my cat is in fact trespassing on their property. Unfortunately, most cat owners let their cats have some degree of outdoor freedom and this is bound to happen. Even if I were to keep my own cat in, other cats would still have access to the food and bones and would be able to take them into my garden. The rats would still be an issue, possibly an even more serious one as my own cat does his bit in keeping them at bay.

Any idea on how to approach this would be greatly appreciated. I will talk with the neighbours, I'm just not sure how to broach the subject. If they refuse to come to an agreement, are there any laws in place that might be on my side?

(Just a quick note. I started this thread with view to asking pet owners for advice about my own pets getting hold of bones dumped by my neighbour. Looking at the thread now, I'm not sure that it fits into this subforum. If mods don't feel this is an appropriate subforum for this topic, please feel free to move it to wherever it should be instead.)

It's dumping actually even the grass clippings are dumping they can be fined for it - happened to someone I know who threw hedge clippings over their wall - Food will attract rats obviously I wouldn't hesitate with the litter warden.

Pumpkinseeds

I think most County Councils have an environmental patrol to deal with this sort of thing. To be honest I'd just contact them anonymously and report the problem. Realistically you're neighbours know that there is a rat problem and that they're responsible for the rats or at least contributing to the problem so I don't think mentioning it in any context to them would help the situation.

misschoo

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I think most County Councils have an environmental patrol to deal with this sort of thing. To be honest I'd just contact them anonymously and report the problem. Realistically you're neighbours know that there is a rat problem and that they're responsible for the rats or at least contributing to the problem so I don't think mentioning it in any context to them would help the situation.

I agree - I had a similar problem with neighbours just dumping their plastic bin bags beside their own overflowing bins. I took photos of it and filled in an online complaint to the litter warden & uploaded the photos with it.

Does your estate have a management company? If you do you could get them involved which I also did & it helped the problem.

FoxyVixen

Make sure to time stamp the photos Even take a few over the course of a few days or two weeks indicating the growth of the dump