Neighbor Drags Parent To Court Over 4cm Fence Intrusion, So Parent Reports His Too-Short Dangerous Dog Enclosure

A gleaming new fence sat just four centimeters over the property line, slightly a sneeze past legal. The neighbor unleashed surveys, lawyers, and courtroom tears until the owner shaved it back. Victory smirk didn’t last long. Turns out Mr. Rulebook’s own fence was twenty centimeters too short, hovering without the required concrete base, illegally caging his “dangerous breed” dog.

Now the original poster’s thumb hovers over the city hotline, sipping coffee and savoring a cold revenge in suburban history. Karma measured twice and cut once.

Neighbor sued over 4 cm fence encroachment, now faces massive rebuild because his dangerous-breed dog enclosure breaks the law.

Could you imagine living next to a neighbor, who has a lawyer involved in settling a problem with you over four centimeters of dirt? That’s next-level adulting.

At its core, this saga is about boundaries. Literal boundaries made of wood and concrete, and the emotional ones we draw when someone pushes back harder than expected.

The neighbor wasn’t wrong to defend his property line. In many European countries (and most places with common-law roots), even small encroachments can lead to adverse possession claims years down the road if left unchallenged.

A 2022 report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors noted that boundary disputes are among the top five causes of neighbor litigation in the UK and EU, often costing both parties thousands despite the land in question being worth pennies.

Yet the revenge angle is where things get deliciously human. Psychologist Kevin Carlsmith, in his research on the psychology of revenge, noted, “Vengeance does not restore well-being; rather, it prolongs the cognitive and emotional engagement with the wrongdoer, trapping the victim in a cycle of rage and resentment.”

Applied here, the neighbor’s courtroom victory kept the emotional temperature boiling, discovering his own violation simply handed OP a loaded return ticket.

Dog laws add another wrinkle. Many countries require reinforced enclosures for breeds classified as dangerous (think Rottweilers, certain mastiffs, or American Staffordshire lines). Failing to comply isn’t just a paperwork whoopsie, it’s a public-safety issue, especially when the dog is trained to bark aggressively at small children next door. Municipal fines can reach four figures, and in extreme cases authorities can order the animal removed.

Neutral takeaway? Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they can make everything legally even. The healthiest path would be a calm conversation – perhaps over that newly compliant two-meter fence – where both sides agree to fix their respective oopsies and move on. Grown-up, boring, and surprisingly rare.

Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:

Some people side with the neighbor and say OP was in the wrong for encroaching on his land

Some people say OP should blame the contractor or surveyor, not the neighbor

Some people question the OP

So where do we land? Is reporting the too-short fence fair play when the neighbor already dragged everyone to court over a sliver of land, or is it just round two of an endless petty war?

Would you pick up the phone to make the dog fence compliant, or let sleeping (and barking) dogs lie? Drop your verdict below, bonus points if you’ve survived your own neighbor nightmare!