I've had enough!

This Friday, our upstairs neighbour's dog started howling. A long, heart-wrenching sound that resounded through our roof. The dog was obviously alone, as said neighbour otherwise usually shouts at it when it makes any noise.

And it went on, through the night. And Saturday.

On Sunday, we called the police, who were of little assistance. They called the neighbour and then told me that "the owner says he often takes his dog for walks".

What the fuck? Imagine you hearing your neighbour physically abusing his girlfriend and you report it to the police, and they call you back saying "the neighbour says he often cooks for his wife". What the fuck!

Today, the dog started howling during day-time, so we called the Swedish Animal Welfare Agency who were a lot more supportive about the matter than the police. They asked how many dogs there were involved, if we'd actually seen the dog we heard, how often it howled, et.c. Good. They said they'd send somebody over regarding the matter as soon as possible. Oh, and I happened to ask if I could be anonymous. "Sure thing," they said. "We'll just say we didn't hear your name."

And still the poor dog howled. X and I looked at each-other and came to the conclusion that we'd have to visit. The thing is, when I've previously tried to get hold of the owner by knocking on his door, he's either not been in or has consciously tried to avoid me (by not opening, despite my hearing him talking indoors). So, we went upstairs, saw a gigantic food-bag outside the apartment plus a carpet right outside the apartment door with a picture of a dog on it with a few "funny" words, like "please ring the bell - and run". Not so funny now. We rang his door-bell, got no reply, went to our apartment and sighed.

What else could we possibly do? It felt like an infinite let-down, but at the same time, we've done all we can do (even though I'd love to break down his door and just take care of the dog).

I've also thought about the possibility that we'd mistaken identities and reported an innocent person; this is impossible due to the dog being heard through a part of the neighbour's floor that's next to a wall that's concealing a complex of storage-facilities, where nobody lives. The second reason I'm sure is that I've heard the dog howling really close by when eaves-dropping through the neighbour's letterbox while acting detective.

At this point I feel dejected and angry. I'm angry because it seems that nothing can be done even though an animal is suffering.

X added that one thing that made her sad about the whole ordeal is that it seems that no other neighbours have reported him. I somehow hope that they have (as it wasn't easy to find the right contact information).

While I sincerely hope that the dog's owner realises that his dog is in distress and acts on it, I'm not betting any money that he will.