Calling animal control on my father...

I'm in Tennessee, USA.

My father recently adopted a one year old pitt bull. The dog is sweet, has no aggression issues and is very lovable.

He adopted her shortly after his previous dog was put down due to health concerns.

Here are my concerns:

• He lives on our property in a camper that is barely 200sq feet.
• He leaves for work every morning at 6am, comes home at 7pm and is in bed by 9pm. During these hours, the dog is confined to the camper unless my husband or I go and take her out. As we are both working the same hours he does, this rarely happens.
• His previous dog had to be euthanized because her liver was shutting down. I took her to the vet against his wishes and paid for the visit myself because she was in obvious pain. It was the vet's recommendation that she be put down and the sedative they give to let them pass peacefully is what actually took her because she was so weak.
• I bought the new dog a nametag with my phone number and my father's. Even though she'd jumped the fence twice and both times was returned because of the name tag, he removed it because it had my number on it and he felt I was trying to "take his dog."
• Because she's jumped the fence twice, he's taken to tying her to a tree in the back yard. The contract he signed with the rescue he adopted her from said point blank "do not chain up the dog" but my father says that a cable isn't a chain, so it's okay.
• He leaves her outside in the cold, the rain and heat. Often without water and never with shelter despite me telling him repeatedly to get or build her a dog house. When we see that she's been left out too long in the cold/heat or if it starts to rain, we bring her inside our house and every time my father has to come get her (it's an extra 3 feet) he complains that she wasn't out that long.
• The camper he lives in smells awful. It's a smell of ammonia and fecal matter that punches you in the gut when you open the door because he lets her poo and pee wherever she wants.

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So my question for you guys is this:

I really want to call animal control and have them investigate, light a fire under him and perhaps even just take the dog. She's not being well cared for. She's abandoned throughout the day and is living in squalor.

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Would him living on our property (we own it and he does not pay rent though he does pay the electric and water as his camper is hooked into it) make us legally responsible?

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If I call animal control, would my husband and I be just as at fault? The dog legally belongs to my father, he is the only one on her adoption contract.

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We have three cats that are well cared for, always up to date on vet visits (they even get 6 month check ups just to be sure they're healthy) and are loved and showered with attention and affection. Would calling animal control risk us losing our cats should they deem the dog to be neglected?

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Please let me know what you think, I've been going back and forth on this.

Written By: HonestLingonberry
Source: http://bit.ly/2UCuSM4