Neighbor Below Me Leaves Their Dog Unattended On Their Balcony And Apt Complex Is Refusing To Do Anything About It Despite It Constantly Barking And Crying And This Being Prohibited In The Lease And By The City

Location: Austin, TX

Hello I moved into my apt complex roughly 3 months ago and had been hearing constant barking throughout the day and night so I eventually went outside early Feb to see where it was coming from and it’s the person below me just leaving their dog out on the balcony for hours at a time. not only did this seem inhumane, the barking has become a serious disturbance to my ability to relax in my own home (it’s an older complex made of wood and it’s a big loud dog so it reverberates in the walls and there’s no way to block it out, even with leaving my tv on, noise cancelling headphones, padding my floors, blackout curtains etc

I’ve filed numerous complaints with the front office regarding animal neglect with videos of both the dog alone outside and of the barking and they haven’t responded to any of my emails and when I call or talk to them in person they told me they’re looking into it and I’m not the only person that’s complained but it’s not technically animal neglect since it has shade and they’d just need to make sure it had water (which they’ve been saying for a month now so nobody has checked) so I eventually pivoted and just said I’d like to start filing noise complaints instead and they told me I can’t file a noise complaint unless it happens after quiet hours (8:30pm)

I looked into the law and noisy animals are not subject to standard city quiet laws and not only that but it’s specifically prohibited in the lease to leave an animal unattended on the balcony and 311 confirmed based on city ordinance that this is also prohibited. I filed a complaint with them as well and they said they’re looking into it. what do I do next if it continues? Can I seek rent abatement or terminate my lease?