Quote Originally Posted by Irulan View Post
As much as it is disturbing to see any kind of neglect ( animal, human etc) I'm thinking it's pretty pointless to try and point things out to people. It's kind of like trying to change someone's mind over the internet. You feel better making your point, but are you really going to change anyone's behavior?
I tend to agree with this. If there was clear, serious abuse, I would try to contact the police or animal control people anonymously. But I had a neighbor recently who lived in the condo above mine, and I could tell she was ignoring her dog -- leaving it home alone in a cage for 16 hours at a time -- and I didn't say anything to her because I was already having enough problems with her stomping around and slamming things on purpose because she knew it annoyed me. She had the emotional maturity of a toddler and should never have gotten a dog in the first place. There was no way I would have been able to help the dog by intervening. (My neighbor's boyfriend seemed much more mature, so hopefully he stepped up and took better care of the dog after the neighbor moved on to a different home.)