SOS: My neighbor runs an illegal dog rescue from her apartment
Preface: I really have no idea what to do in this situation. Feel free to ask any questions but I need help.
There is a lot to the story and i’m at my wits end. Stick with me here.
Tour of Unit
In late March 2026, we toured the unit we currently we live in. It was great and we were excited to move into our new 2 bedroom apartment. When we looked at the unit, there was an foul odor that existed throughout the unit. The property manager said it was because “they are redoing the HVAC units and other renovations from previous tenants.” NOTE: This was said during the tour and not documented anywhere.
So we signed.
~ 2 weeks later - April 1st 2026
On this day, we were meeting to be given the keys, garage fobs, and see our assigned parking spaces. When we arrived, the property manager told us that while they had fixed the HVAC, they noticed the smell did not go away. This led to an investigation on their end which is how they found out that the direct upstairs neighbor had been hoarding anywhere from 20-60 dogs in her 2 bedroom apartment - running an unauthorized dog rescue from her unit.
Our reaction was as what you can imagine - shocked, angry and confused.
We asked management what was going to be done about this. They said, “litigation is involved and we’re handling matters legally.” This is because when they initially confronted her, she denied entry to the unit. This was not a documented convo - just a conversation had in person.
When we arrived at the unit, the smell was FOUL. It can only be described as a mix of dead animal, a petting zoo, and feces. Management got a chemical deodorizer spray to try and rid of the smell (which made it worse) and an industrial grade air purifier. It hardly did anything so in our own effort, we left all windows and sliding doors open to air out the smell and bought like 10 Glade Plug-ins, to mask the smell.
2 Days Later - April 3rd 2026: Move-In
When we arrived to move our stuff in, the place still reeked horrendously!
I told management this and they brought us a second air purifier.
As we our moving in, we noticed Police & Animal Control & a higher up rep from the corporate company of the building were here as well.
After speaking with them, we learned that they were there to confront and handle the situation. I asked that we be kept in the loop of what is going on.
Later that day, the property manager called me and said the upstairs neighbor had complied and that they confirmed there were no excessive dogs in her unit.
She agreed to donate all of the kennels and that management was going to be replacing her flooring as they thought that was the root of the odor issue.
Same Day - Neighbor Testimony TRIGGER WARNING
In the midst of moving things from the u-haul to our unit, we meet one of our neighbors on the same floor. He noted he has lived here for a while and was aware of the upstairs lady’s dog issues.
Apparently, the smell had existed for months prior to our move in and even leaked into his apartment for a bit. He complained to management and nothing happened. Also, apparently the tenant who lived here before us, moved out because the smell was so bad.
This is where I’ll give a trigger warning for animal abuse.
My neighbor said that not only had the upstairs neighbor kept an insane amount of dogs in her unit and not taking them out for proper care (since the max # of animals per unit is 2 and she likely didn’t want to be seen with all those animals) - thus, creating a horrible odor… BUT
That there have been incidents where at least one of her dogs had jumped off of the balcony from her floor (which is 5 stories tall)!!!
Why this happened? Unclear - we speculate it could’ve been an accident or the poor dog was under so much distress that it killed itself.
When this happened, paramedics arrived to help the poor animal on the sidewalk and people on the street were freaked out, and when the neighbor came down, she just scooped the animal in her arms and took it inside?!?!
This is all a neighbor’s story - but why I don’t think he is lying is because he showed us a photo of the poor animal dying on the sidewalk.
Next Day - April 4th 2026
As we are unpacking our items, we begin to hear loud banging from our roof. To escape the sound, we go across the street to get some dinner and as we look across the street at our building, you can see a man in her unit, removing flooring.
So, now we’re excited, the filthy toxic floor is being removed! Maybe this is the solve?
We take a photo of the man performing work, from across the street.
2 Days Later - April 6th 2026
We get a visit from the property manager’s assistant - to give us some mailbox keys and just check in.
We thank her for management to be so prompt about the floor removal. She noted that management did not do this and they were waiting to get a vendor to do this. So now, we’re all confused??
Turns out the upstairs lady hired someone to do it. For what reason? If you ask me, she probably didn’t want management to see how bad the floors had been ruined.
So now management said they will be hiring their own vendor to install the new flooring.
Throughout April 2026
So while the smell is like 75% better because the floors were removed, we realize the smell comes back whenever we use the AC - reducing it to about a 50% improvement.
All the while, this neighbor is being SO loud. Banging, stomping, doing god knows what - probably because she has no proper floors.
We continue to complain to management about the lingering smell and noises via email and they give us a generic answer.
April 24th 2026
Finally - we receive this from management:
“We had a third-party vendor assess the issue yesterday, and they were able to confirm that the odor is coming from the flooring in the unit above, rather than from the balcony itself, but dogs shouldn't be using the bathroom out there either way. To address this, the flooring in that unit will be replaced, and the concrete underneath will be properly treated to eliminate the source of the smell.
At this time, we are aiming to complete the flooring work next week; however, the schedule has not yet been fully confirmed. We will keep you updated as soon as we have a confirmed timeline.”
In-between this message and the next update: there was back and forth comms about how the flooring work is “underway” and will be completely with proper notice to us, etc.
May 6th 2026
The lady upstairs leaves a note under my door stating her name and phone number and that there will be noise tomorrow because flooring renovations are to occur tomorrow. Prompting us to call or text her directly if it becomes an issue.
I send management a photo of this email, asking them to confirm this information - to which they said “We have not scheduled any flooring work for tomorrow, and we will address this notice with the resident in that unit”
May 7th 2026
Flooring work happens.
May 8th 2026
Management emails us saying “Unit —- Flooring: Ownership agreed to a floor replacement for the resident in —-, but she proceeded with her own vendor sooner than we anticipated. I apologize for the noise that occurred during that process. We are expecting a follow-up from her vendor shortly”
To which I reply:
“Does this mean the property owner (name of company) will proceed with allowing for the tenant’s own vendor to install floors without proper inspection?
As you can imagine, it is vital for us to have a certified flooring vendor ensure that the concrete beneath is properly reviewed and cleaned from any previous animal activity, before new floors are installed on top.”
To which they reply:
“Flooring work has already been performed in Unit —. Upper management will have more information for us shortly regarding the exact scope of the work completed, and we will follow up with you as soon as we receive those details. In the meantime, could you please let us know if you are currently noticing any odor?”
To which I reply:
“This is incredibly unhelpful.
Not only were we not properly notified, you specifically said tenant’s are not allowed to have their own vendors complete renovations in a rental unit. Yet now the owners are permitting it? How does that make sense?
Normally, it wouldn’t be my business what goes on in another unit. However, the fact is, is that this tenant has a history of filth so horrible that other neighbors have complained about it aside from us. And the fact is that the odor seeped into the floors so potently, that it made our unit stink.
We expect (company name) to properly treat the flooring - this means having a verified 3rd party - confirm that the floor is properly cleaned and sanitized. To ensure that our health and safety is not put at risk, because of whatever work is being done or not in unit —-.
Who knows what kind of odor toxins we are breathing in, day to day.
Do you advise we have a meeting with your upper management about this?
Side note: Work continues to go on even today, see the video attached.
How long is this going to take before it is properly resolved? Or do we need to take further action legally?
If so, I’m happy to move forward in that direction.”
~
Then, they send a generic AI generated email - acknowledging our concern & thats it.
So time goes on, I’m waiting for an update. Meanwhile, the smell is like 90% gone. So now, I’m thinking to myself “okay maybe this is the end of it.”
NOPE.
May 14th 2026
As we are getting ready for bed (11 pm) we hear LOUD NOISES of puppies crying and dogs barking.
We know for damn sure that is not 2 dogs.
So the cycle fucking continued! This neighbor continues to run her dog rescue from the unit.
I record a solid video to which you can CLEARLY hear the dogs and I begin to do some internet digging.
After finding out her name, and using Facebook - I find her rescue page. The concerning part is she has been running it for years, which makes me sick if she has been keeping all those animals locked up in her unit.
So I send all of this to management:
“
I am writing to formally report what appears to be a repeat violation of the pet policy by the resident in Unit —.
As you are aware, this unit was previously the subject of multiple complaints regarding an unauthorized dog rescue operation. That situation caused severe odor issues that spread into the surrounding hallways and completely ruined our unit.
It was never fully resolved by your team. And it is now happening again.
As of Thursday evening, May 14th at 10:50 PM, I can clearly hear multiple dogs crying and barking from Unit —. I have video documentation of this.
I also want to flag that this is more than a personal pet situation. This resident operates a formal rescue organization, and its Facebook page publicly lists her unit as the mailing address for donations ("make checks payable to (her address)").
See this page (link) that lists her as the President of the rescue.
NOTE: There are several sources online linking her to this rescue, such as this post from social media (link)
This confirms that an organizational operation is being actively conducted out of a residential unit. A concern that goes well beyond a standard pet policy violation.
Please find all videos and screenshots mentioned above in this drive link: (link)
I am requesting the following be addressed immediately:
A formal inspection of Unit — within the next 24 hours
Written confirmation of what action will be taken and by when - specifically, what legal measures will be put in place to ensure this tenant does not continue bringing unauthorized animals into her unit
Written verification from a licensed flooring repair company, confirming that all necessary repairs to her unit's flooring have been completed to standard - given the volume at which we can hear these animals / other loud noises, we have serious doubts that prior repairs were adequate
Written confirmation that this complaint has been logged in our file
If we do not receive a response with a clear action plan by tomorrow, we will escalate this matter to the LA Housing Department and pursue all available options as tenants.
We have been patient. That patience has run out.
Please respond in writing.”
~~
And now we’re here. If anyone has any knowledge on what else I can do, please let me know.
This woman should not be allowed to do any of what she has done. What’s worse is I think her mental status is not present.
She reeks so bad whenever you see her or pass by her, anyone who lacks that basic level of hygiene needs next level care.
I can’t stress enough, this isn’t an issue of not supporting dogs: I have a dog rescued from the shelter. I support proper shelters!
This is an issue of someone’s lack of care being so bad, it made our unit unsanitary! Can you imagine how bad her actual unit smells?
Not to mention, if the smell was cause by her running her dog rescue from her home, and now she is back up again with the dogs in her room, who knows how long it’ll be before the smell kicks up again!!
Most importantly, she should not be running a dog rescue if she has had dogs in her care, jump and get seriously injured from a 30+ foot building!
—
I really don’t know what matters to take. Please help!