Good neighbors make all the difference in maintaining a peaceful community.

Imagine living next to annoying neighbors who don’t take care of their trash properly, which leaves a rotting mess of garbage on your property.

Would you learn to live with it, or would you force them to change their ways?

This woman lives in a neighborhood where black bears frequently visit.

Thus, everyone is expected to secure their trash properly.

However, her next-door neighbors continually leave their garbage unsecured.

Read the full story below for all the details.

AITA for refusing to “just deal with it” after my neighbors keep letting bears drag trash into my yard?

I live in a neighborhood that’s known for black bear sightings.

The whole neighborhood knows the deal.

You have to secure your trash or a bear will come digging in it.

My next-door neighbors refuse to do that.

This is a big problem.

They keep their trash cans on the side of their house, which is directly next to my property line.

Almost every week, the bear knocks their bins over and drags garbage into my yard.

This makes the whole area smell like rotting food.

They attempt to pick it up now, but the liquids and smell always stay behind.

This woman brought up the concern to their neighbor several times, but was always dismissed.

I have already brought this up to them several times, fairly nicely, asking if they can handle their trash.

I even offered a cheap solution they could use.

A $10 strap from Amazon that would keep the cans secure, but they ignored it.

She finally snapped and threatened to file a complaint.

This week, I finally snapped.

I came home to my entire driveway reeking of rotting trash as soon as I opened my car door.

I wrote them a firm message saying if this continued, I’d file a complaint with the authorities.

Their response was basically saying I should just “get used to it” because we live near bears. They said that I should move to another city if I don’t like it.

The neighbors said there’s no law against leaving their trash outside.

Also, the cities they suggested still literally have bears there.

They said there’s no law requiring them to secure their trash and that they “don’t want to deal with hooks on a daily basis.” 🙄

For the record, I’ve never reported anyone before, and I’d prefer not to have neighbor drama, but I’m tired of cleaning up their mess and having my yard smell like literal rotting garbage.

So, she looked it up and found a related ordinance.

I looked it up, and apparently, the county actually does have an ordinance encouraging trash to be secured in bear-prone areas.

AITA for threatening or reporting them instead of just dealing with it?

The neighbors are being really inconsiderate.

Let’s read the responses of other people on Reddit to this story.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

This person suggests reporting them to the authorities.

Here’s a similar thought from this person.

This person makes a valid point.

Finally, short and simple.

Some people don’t care just because it isn’t their problem.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.