MY NEIGHBOUR IS BEING CRUEL TO HER PET

I’m an animal-lover and can’t handle it when people are cruel to animals. My neighbour is a very strange woman. One day she wants to do everything for you and the next she’s angry, aggressive and abrasive towards everybody.

I’ve noticed she displays this behaviour towards her dog as well. One day she wants to hug and kiss the dog and is a wonderful pet owner, the next day she leaves him outside in the rain, refuses to feed him and ignores him. The poor dog doesn’t know what’s going on – and neither do I. Why is she acting this way? Anonymous It’s not possible to know exactly what the problem is without a proper assessment, but it sounds very much as if your neighbour has a personality disorder.

People with borderline personality disorder tend to fluctuate like this and display extremes of temperament that result in ambivalence in their behaviour towards others and animals.

One moment they’re caring and loving, the next they’re aggressive and hateful. Unfortunately they’re unable to stop the cyclic behaviour as their mood swings are typical of this disorder.

Tell your neighbour you’ve noticed the dog is confused and that neglecting the animal is not acceptable. Explain that if it happens again you’ll have no choice but to report her to the authorities.

Animals, like children, need security, stability and discipline to flourish. They can’t speak for themselves so we need to do it for them if we see the need.