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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Ben Thompson & Paige Freshwater

Woman sick of 'nosy neighbours' staring at her dresses as dinosaur to walk her dogs

A woman tired of her "nosy neighbours staring at her" while she is out walking her dogs decided to give them something to stare at - by dressing up as a dinosaur.

Cori Berman says she was frustrated by neighbours and builders looking her up and down in the streets as she exercised her beloved dogs - so she and Yorkshire terriers, Scotty and Simone, decided to play dress up.

After snapping up a £62 T-Rex ensemble, Cori shimmied into it and headed out for a walk with her dogs in mini matching outfits.

And the stunt appeared to have had the desired effect, as one resident reportedly slammed their door shut, while the 24-year-old photographer claims she's been getting less attention on her outings ever since.

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Cori bought her T-rex outfit for £62 (Kennedy News and Media)
She got her dogs matching outfits too (Kennedy News and Media)

The video has racked up more than 11 million views since it was shared to TikTok, with many commenters claiming they want Cori to be their neighbour.

Cori, from Atlantic City, New Jersey, US, said: "We have construction on both sides of our house and we only have a few neighbours who live across the street.

"The neighbours will either be staring at the construction or me.

"Every time I walk out of my house, I have construction workers staring at me and my dogs, and I have the neighbours staring too.

"I can't walk out of the house without somebody staring at me.

"I don't know why they do it. But I thought, 'if they're going to stare, I'm going to give them something to stare at'.

"I try to keep my distance from my neighbours, but sometimes it feels like they're very nosy and they want to know what's going on with me and my family.

Her video has been viewed more than 11 million times on TikTok (Kennedy News and Media)

"It's one thing if they're looking at my dogs and want to say 'hi', that doesn't bother me.

"But if they're looking at me like I'm bothering them when I'm across the street minding my business, then I definitely get frustrated. That's what made me do the dinosaur thing.

"I got the dinosaur costume from a Halloween costume website. I saw it and thought 'this is ridiculous, but it needs to be done.'"

Cori slipped into the T-Rex costume and hit the streets with Simone and Scotty in tow in matching outfits.

Cori said: "I was cracking up the whole time I was wearing the costume. Simone loves it so each time we were walking, she would gallop along in her little costume. We were all cracking up.

"Scotty and Simone loved wearing their costumes, they dress up all the time.

"When you're wearing it, you can only see ahead, so you need a bodyguard alongside you to help manoeuvre it.

She gave her neighbours a good laugh (Kennedy News and Media)
Her dogs love wearing their costumes (Kennedy News and Media)

"I wore the costume to make a statement and see the reaction. There might be a part two coming, we'll have to see.

"One of my neighbours spotted me in the suit through her screen door. She took a look and then quickly shut the door.

"The construction workers will stare no matter what I'm wearing so they were staring me down in this suit.

"They were laughing this time, but usually they just stare. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

Ever since she wore the suit, Cori has noticed the neighbours aren't as keen to watch her.

Cori said: "Since I did the dinosaur stunt, I've definitely noticed a difference. They do short stares now rather than long hard ones, so it's dialled down a little bit.

"It worked in the sense that they're not staring as obviously.

"But as summer comes and we'll get more people coming to the neighbourhood, I'm 100% certain the staring will be back. It'll be new people and new stares."

Video of Cori in her gear has gone viral with thousands of TikTok commenters praising her creativity.

Cori said: "When I posted it online, everybody was saying they wished they had me as a neighbour, so we could have fun.

"I can't believe how fast the word got out about the video. Everybody was seeing it."

One commenter wrote: "Frigging hilarious. Now all you need is the Jurassic Park dinosaur roar."

Another user said: "Epic!!! I wish I had neighbours like this.", whilst another commented: "Oh I wish you were my neighbour."

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