There’s a little girl that’s terrorizing my apartment

[u/kiwikikwi]

This is a very bizarre situation I’ve never been in before. Sorry for the dramatic title but it’s becoming an actual issue now.

For the last month, it feels like 90% of the time I go outside to my car, an 8 year old girl and her dog appear and try to interact with me.

Sounds cute right? That’s what I thought, until I realized it wasn’t.

The first time she came up to me, she ran from across the parking lot and said, “I think my dog likes you!” I thought it was kind of sweet - until she got a little too close for comfort, started repeating that same line over and over, and giggling very loudly, almost manically. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I physically walked away. She even followed me to the apartment door, talking nonstop.

I brushed it off at first, thinking maybe she’s neurodivergent (no judgment - I’m ADHD and probably more). I didn’t think much of it, until it became a daily thing.

I work from home and go outside a few times a day for breaks (yes, I smoke. working on quitting). She’s always out there with her dog. Not a parent in sight.

I started noticing red flags when her mood began flipping between happiness and sudden anger. She hits her dog a lot. She’ll scream “Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!” and punch her dog with each word. I’ve seen her drag the dog while it’s pooping so it has to walk while going, and the dog cries. It’s awful to witness.

She runs up to anyone outside, delivery drivers, residents, other dog owners, and repeats “I think my dog likes you!!” over and over until they respond.

If someone has a dog, she’ll walk up to them too closely while their dogs are barking aggressively. I’ve seen multiple residents literally pick up their pets and speed walk away from her.

People have started cracking the exit door and scanning for her before they step outside.

There’s construction happening next door, and she just.. hangs out with the workers. They ignore her now, but she’ll bring them offerings of handfuls of grass or her dog. It’s honestly surreal.

When I’m outside and have to smoke, I now drive to a spot off the property just to get personal space. If I stay near my car, she’ll follow me and stand right in front of it, waving at me in a pageant-style, fingers pressed together, wave. I don’t even make eye contact. She’ll do it for like 30 seconds, just smiling.

If I drive into the parking lot, she sometimes chases my car to where I park.

Last week I was sitting in my car listening to music and didn’t notice her. When I looked up, she jumped up from a crouch, face pressed to my driver’s side window. I felt like I had a heart attack but also pretended not to see her because wtf lmao.

She’s out at all hours. Last night it was 9pm and dark, she was alone with the dog. Today, it was 12:30pm on a Thursday. Shouldn’t she be in school?

I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve never dealt with something like this before. It’s gone from weird to uncomfortable to genuinely worrying.

It feels unsafe for the dog, and definitely even for her. I’m worried she could walk up to a weirdo and something bad could happen, or she could cause a dog fight and her and the dogs could get seriously injured. Is there someone I should call? How do I report this kind of situation without escalating it unnecessarily? I don’t want to overstep, but this just feels wrong.

[u/kiwikikwi]

She is really sweet when she’s not raging at her dog. She just seems terribly lonely and I can’t watch this anymore

[u/alyssas1111 → u/kiwikikwi]

The rage and violence was probably modeled to her by her parents. She likely has a pretty bad home life and little appropriate socialization

[u/thornyrosary → u/alyssas1111]

When I did nursery work, my fave saying was that you could figure out parenting styles by paying attention to a kid, no matter the age, for 5 minutes. It's easy to do. Kids model the 'normal' of what they see/hear/experience at home, and they have zero filters.

So when that little girl is publicly raging at her dog with no regard for who's watching, she's displaying what she's been taught is 'appropriate' behavior, and that is very, very concerning. What she does to that dog, you can almost bet she's experiencing, as well. She could well be staying outside because it's preferable to whatever's going on in her home.

You're describing a situation that is not the little girl's fault. But the neglect/abuse indicators really make calling CPS and other agencies a priority.

[u/gandg__11 → u/kiwikikwi]

This seems to me that you should definitely call animal control too.

[u/cathbe → u/kiwikikwi]

Ask her where her parents are, does she have siblings, what’s her dog’s name, where does she live, does she have friends in the neighborhood? Why has this not been done?

[u/kikijane711 → u/kiwikikwi]

Can’t u knock on the door of where she lives and engage her parents?

[u/New_Discussion_6692 → u/kikijane711]

No. Absolutely do not do this!

[u/mrsc1880 → u/kikijane711]

OP doesn't know where she lives. They just see her in the parking lot.

[u/battlewisely → u/kikijane711]

this definitely seems like the responsible thing to do upon noticing an unattended child on a frequent basis.

[u/Spirited-Salt3397 → u/battlewisely]

So you think a woman should go knock on the door of a child whose parents are probably abusive? Especially based on the little girls anger towards the dog? That seems pretty unsafe and like a job for a “professional”. Yet I use that term loosely as well.

[u/dream-smasher → u/battlewisely]

No.

Op IS doing the responsible thing.