Neighbours dog wrecked all my plants

Just got home from work to find all my plants wrecked in my front garden, bascially alot of pots will pansys and the like that i put alot of time and money into planting etc. The dog also wrecked a flower bed I made aswell.

As Iwrite this there is literally smoke coming out of my ears, I am fumming. The dog is still running around outside, damage was done before I arrived. My neighbour is not home, she works shifts. oh im so mad, i know there only plants but still. Im a crap gardener and I was so pround of what I had if anyone knows what I mean!

That's terrible. Poor you, poor garden and, sorry but, poor dog too. It is the owner who is at fault!

CONTROL OF DOGS ACT, 1986 states
9.—(1) The owner or any other person in charge of a dog shall not permit the dog to be in any place other than—
( a ) the premises of the owner, or
( b ) the premises of such other person in charge of the dog, or
( c ) the premises of any other person, with the consent of that person,
unless such owner or such other person in charge of the dog accompanies it and keeps it under effectual control

The dog obviously was, and from the sound of it is, not under effectual control.
Is the neighbour approachable? She should at least offer to pay your replacement costs.
You might start WW III but... Contact the local dog warden to see if she have a dog licence. Contact the law enforcers about breaches of the Control of Dogs Act and contact a solicitor about sueing for damage...

Maybe you will settle for doing the work yourself but notifying the neighbour that you won't hesitate to go the whole hog if she doesn't act like a responsible dog owner in the future...

Crugers said:

You might start WW III but... Contact the local dog warden to see if she have a dog licence. Contact the law enforcers about breaches of the Control of Dogs Act and contact a solicitor about sueing for damage...

Click to expand...

For god sake have a word before calling a solicitor..... maybe you have a reasonable neighour who's dog broke out and will be happy to make good the damage...

I know if mine ever got out and did damage I would be happy to pay for it...

I agree - totally premature to be going the legal route just yet if at all!

Although I have never had to endure anything like this (the only pets I have are all enclosed in a marine reef in my front room) I would be reluctant to go down the legal route over €80 given you are going to have to live next door to each other for many a year.

Perhaps biting the bullet this time would be palatable and commiting to keeping the camcorder handy for future reference to capture any repetition or negligent bahaviour down the road would be the best option. At least you know what a feckless scanger your neighbour is now I guess if that is of any comfort.

Have to admit that it kills me to keep pruning next doors ivy from mooching into our property and unblocking the leaves from our drains every few weeks; but I take some comfort from seeing the ivy creeping into their attic apparently unbeknownst to them

My advice would be to forget about pursuing your neighbour for the damages to your garden but keep an eye on the situation and if anything further occurs, ensure that it is documented. I know that sounds like rolling over, but in the long term it will ensure lower stress levels. I would also not make any further contact with her over any matter, given her previous response.

Thats nuts, cant believe poeple are so vindictive!!

You never know what people are really like until you fall out with them...