A Good Neighbor Should Not Kill The Other's Dog

(published by The Jakarta Post on 1 June 2010. Click here)

"I will slaughter the dog!" This was a threat written by my neighbor recently through a mailing list consisting of people in our neighborhood.
He expressed his vexation over somebody's dog, which cruises around our residential complex, going to the toilet on his front yard as well as other neighbors'. The dog keeps coming although he has pelted it with rubber slippers or shoes.

"I don't want to confront the owner, but if they cannot keep the dog from making our place dirty, don't blame me if the dog gets killed," he wrote, complaining about the smell. The residential gardeners also complained because they have to clean its excrement every day.

"You love your dog and can enjoy its cuteness, while we have to deal with its poo," the angry neighbor said in his complaint to the owner. Some in the mailing list suggested he trace who owns the dog, or address his complaint to security officers, but he insisted it was not his business to do that as the owner should not let the dog roam.

I can understand his complaint as I also experienced the same inconvenience sometime ago.
The residents in our complex should know and obey the rule, because there is a written rule enacted by the estate management toward all residents prior to the house occupation.
The rule says: "Whoever owns pets, such as birds, cats and dogs, should prevent pets from annoying others. "If someone has dogs, the dogs should be tied and not allowed to walk around inside the residential area freely. If dogs walk with their owner inside residential complexes, owners must clean up after them."

Living in residential areas can be tricky most times. Different lifestyles can spark neighborhood feuds that may last for weeks. It usually begins with small things such as noise from a renovated house, barking dogs, or cars parked in front of other neighbor's yards. Kids quarrel with each other or garbage creates smells, and, of course "naughty" dogs visiting neighbors leave unwanted "gifts".

In some circumstances, it may not cause harm. But in other cases, it causes tension in neighborhoods.

It is important to know our neighbors and be sociable with them. These actions are often forgotten in urban areas, where people easily become involved in their own quotidian affairs.
It is no wonder that anytime trouble arises, people often take shortcuts to the extreme, like in this case, killing the dog without having the will to talk to the owner.

We, urban dwellers, most of the time, only know our neighbors living next door, but we don't know those who are living several houses from our home.
In my community, although some of us actively organize activities to bring residents together, there are still only small numbers of us willing to join.

Since we are mostly busy with our daily jobs, we created a mailing list to keep communication going between us. In fact, a mailing list is a good solution to bridge distance as we rarely can meet physically amid our tight activities respectively.

Let's get back to the complaint about the dog.
If you know the naughty dog is owned by a good neighbor that you know very well, would you still get angry and want to slaughter the dog? I don't think so. It would be simpler to arrive at the dog owner's house and ask them politely to keep the dog tied at home. Unless your neighbor was truly selfish and foolish, you can always excuse the dog even if the dog continues its bad habit.

Or perhaps not?

***
Serpong, 7 May 2010
Titus J.