Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?

Oh, wait, I don't have a dog.

There are many reasons why I have cats but not dogs.  I don't have time to teach a dog good manners or to housebreak it.  Cats not only survive, but sometimes thrive on benign neglect.  Dogs?  They're usually sociable creatures who like to interact with their pack and don't always understand long absences and solitude.

I am not thrilled with the amount of poop and other effluvia I deal with on a daily basis - I really don't want to add tidying up after a canine to the list.

So why am I cleaning up piles of canine leavings from my yard?  Why are my Iris trampled and my garden mauled?  Why are the outdoor cats constantly fleeing the porch and going hungry because the food I give them disappears at an alarming rate?  I don't understand...I don't have a dog.

Oh, but the neighbors do.  They have two, in fact.

One of the dogs has learned some nifty new tricks.  He has learned that he can jump the fence!  He can remove his collar!

He's a friendly old fellow and I wouldn't mind his visits if he wasn't such hell on my yard and garden, and if he wasn't chasing the cats and eating their food.  I've walked him home and rung the bell, eventually getting a response from one of his humans who spoke of her frustration with his Houdini act...and then put him right back in the fenced yard from which he can so easily escape.  They're getting an electric fence, she says.  How on earth will that help when he can remove his collar?

He has been free-range for weeks, now.  I am not convinced they actually plan to do anything about it.

I am loathe to call animal control - I may have mentioned before that I don't think it's right to punish an animal for acting according to its nature.  He's just being a dog.  His humans are the ones who need to step up, but they aren't.  This bothers me.  Why have an animal in your life if you can't or won't deal with it?  The woman I spoke to said she didn't want him in the house.  So...it's okay for him to wander in and out of my garage, yard, and garden, pee and defecate on this property, and generally act like he's my pet and not hers?
Adding insult to injury, the neighbor in question is in law enforcement and has a working dog.  He knows the law and knows how to train an animal and work with it.

I know that you, dear reader, would not be such a thoughtless human to your pets - but if you know of someone who is, please, oh, please, tell them.  Help them to manage their critter so that it's not being a nuisance to others.

I am worried about my neighbor's dog - he's black, it's hot out, he has no food or water out here (except the cat food he steals from me, that is)...and then there's the night time to consider when the other neighbors fly through the cul-de-sac like they're trying to beat Mario Andretti home for dinner - black dogs are so easily struck at night.

I don't want the care of another being right now, and he has a family that is supposed to love and care for him.  So what am I to do?  What would you do, dear reader?