I have a dilemma on my hands, people. As some of you may remember, we moved into a new neighborhood in August 2005. Since then, we've met most of our neighbors and they're very nice people.

BUT. (You knew there was a "but" coming, right?)

There is this family who lives two houses down and across the street from us. A husband, wife and at least two little kids. Maybe more. They also have a beagle.

My problem is the way this man treats the beagle. I have witnessed the guy screaming at the top of his lungs at this poor little dog. For the record, I have never seen any of the family members actually take the dog for a walk. Instead, they tether the dog to a stake in the front lawn and leave it out there for hours. It howls and whimpers, and occasionally the man sticks his head out the front door and yells at it to shut up. Why do people like this even own a dog?

Somehow, I've managed to look the other way about this since we moved in, but something happened yesterday afternoon that made my blood absolutely boil.

We had invited my parents and grandmother over for brunch to celebrate Mother's Day. They left around 2 p.m., and Brian and I stood on our front porch to wave goodbye as my mom's car began slowly driving down the street. As she passed that family's house, the beagle somehow got loose and darted in front of my mom's car in the street. My mother slammed on her brakes and thankfully, the dog ran back up on the lawn, unharmed.

The "man" of the house (I use that term with reservations) was doing some kind of garden work at the time and saw everything that happened. He hollered an apology at my mother, who I am sure was quite shaken by the close call. Then, as soon as the beagle returned to him on the lawn, he scooped it up in his arms and started beating it and screaming at it.

I watched this from our front step and Brian had to physically restrain me from marching across the street and giving this asshole a piece of my mind. How a grown man can beat a 25-lb dog is completely beyond me. Worse, what exactly are his young children learning from this? More than once I have seen the guy scream at and smack the dog right in front of his kids. It makes me sick and I feel like I should take action.

So the question is, what do I do? Do I ring his bell and try to speak to him about it myself? Do I call the Humane Society and let them deal with it? Do I send an anonymous letter? I don't even know their names, but I could find that out easily enough.

I am not a violent person, but when I see animals or children being mistreated, it just about puts me over the edge.

Labels: decisions, family, holidays, neighborhood stuff, pets