what was the line about good neighbors and good fences?

Although my neighbors' houses are mostly similar to mine - circa 1920s bungalows - a few horrid McMansions were built before the neighborhood went Conservation District. The only one on my block is about three doors down.
The current owners are the type who, although obviously moneyed, can never bother to repair anything themselves. Neither can they be bothered to walk their dog. This has resulted in the dog occasionally running amok, as their back yard's wooden gate is hanging from its hinges and doesn't close.
Although the dog hasn't attacked any of my porch cats - or me - he chases off the cats, eats any cat food on the porch, and breaks a flower pot now and again. After several months of this, the dog finally pissed me off enough for me to complain as person. Yesterday evening he destroyed my screen door while attempting to antagonize my indoor cats.
Unfortunately, the only person at home was the daughter. A typical sorority-pledging, too much makeup, clueless type. She claimed to have no knowledge of the broken gate.
But when we took a walk outdoors to inspect, things took a turn for the worse, as I stupidly offered to repair the gate. (This would take me all of 10 minutes.) The silly bitch took mysterious offense to this suggestion, and the conversation quickly became nonsensical.
Reasons for the gate not being repaired included:
- My father has been out of work for three years.
- We can't afford to repair it. (So why not let me fix it, I wondered.)
- The gardeners (notice the plural?) keep leaving it open. Kind of kills that "can't afford repairs" excuse, don't it?
- She didn't like my attitude.
I didn't attempt to prolong this conversation. It was sort of like watering a dead plant, and had it continued, it would have become even more uncivil.
The kicker was that, after calling the city and explaining my problem, they said that it would take "up to 40 days" for animal control to come out and check and see if the dog was out. But they could send out Code Compliance to write up a violation notice for the unrepaired gate in just a day or two.
I spotted the Code Compliance van at the house this morning while going to work. I couldn't help thinking that I should have just repaired the fucking gate a few months ago, when nobody was looking.
Note: the reason I am not posting anything about my doctor visits any more is that
a) I think it's an especially boring topic,
b) I'd rather not discuss it, and
c) I should be feeling better sooner than later anyway.

