I stood up to a bully yesterday.

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It gave me a sense of satisfaction I've not experienced before. Best of all, I didn't stutter and trip over my words or feel self conscious. Many of you might remember that my next door neighbour can be quite unpleasant and that she treats animals badly. She recently acquired a pup who she was hitting with a rolled up newspaper and then a leather belt. The dog was punished this way whenever it barked or when it wanted to play with her other, older dog. She started out slapping her but the pup thought she was playing. The slaps gave way to using the newspaper and she would hit the dog all over...on the rump, over the back, around the head. The poor little dog would be on her chain and unable to run away so she would fall down but this woman kept hitting. I can see a large part of her back yard through the big window from where I sit in my living room. However it was not that I could see her doing this in the first instance but I would HEAR her striking the dog. The dog is going to be big and was very friendly and desperate for company and wanting to run and play. She is lucky if she is let off each day for a short time. There are no walks (unless there are visitors who do the job) and this woman favours the old dog most of the time. The old dog is kept inside and let out maybe 3 times a day to wee. These days the old dog runs around and wants to play but the pup is kept chained up. The old dog will be given a bone to chew while the pup goes without. It was very distressing for me to hear the dog being hit so often and so I rang the RSPCA. He called in yesterday and when he left, the pup was barking and my dear neighbour went out and started laying into it with the newspaper. I raced out and told her to stop and she abused me and told me to mind my own business. I told her if I saw her mistreating any of her animals I would make it my business. She was telling me to "go away" and "go inside" but I refused. When she went inside I had the feeling that I had "got to her". There's more to the story but this is long enough for some to read already....lol. I hope that she thinks twice about mistreating her animals from here on in but sadly, it is her nature to be bossy and domineering. Do you know anyone like this? Are you submissive or a bit of a bully? Can you assert yourself or do people walk all over you? What would you do if you saw or heard someone mistreating an animal or even another person?