An article brought to my attention from Somerville, NJ. Apparently there, the Police are allowed to not only respond to dog barking complaints but can take the dog if they can't contact the owner. It's genius! Why do most of us suffer under a system that does nothing in these situations?
"Summons Issued for Barking Dog
David Weaver, of 14 Bell Avenue in Somerville, was issued a special compliant for a barking dog after officers arrived at the address for a report of a dog left outside that was continually making noise howling and yelping,
A medium sized mutt was observed chained to a dog house on the west side of the property on February 26 at 11:35 p.m. Officers were unsuccessful in making contact with the owner to have the dog brought inside. They then left the scene.
Officers again arrived at the same house at 12:40 a.m. on Feb 27 for reports of a barking dog from numerous unknown residents. Police were again unsuccessful in contacting the owner, so they used an animal snare to control the dog, unchained the animal and transported the dog to police headquarters. Animal control was contacted and took control of the dog.
At 5:15 p.m. on February 27, David Weaver contacted police about his dog being missing. Police informed Weaver of the events that transpired and issued the special compliant."
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
"You can just take them to court"
In talking with authorities responsible for responding to barking dog complaints and those who put the current system into existence, I have been able to explain to them why the multiple household laws do not work in our case (and indeed, in most cases). The response I have received from four different individuals is, predictably, "you can just take them to court". To which, I respond that yes, we could do that. IF we had the money for a lawyer. Ok, small claims then. We could get the offenders fined, but the dog would still be outside barking. The biggest problem is that cases that go to court are very difficult to win. I have heard stories time and again of people who had an immense amount of proof against the offending dog owner, and yet they still lose. A lawyer that we spoke with told us that the only real way to win this fight in court is to get an injunction. He actually said, "good luck with that". Injunctions are extremely difficult to secure. So, the whole take them to court idea really doesn't work any better than getting your neighbors to do bark logs.
I wanted to post this quote as an example of a common story I have heard time and again on court cases. The author is still fighting the fight, and still suffering.
"the court case (2 complaints were filed) we "won" against our psychotic
neighbor of 11 years with as many as 13 barking dogs at a time. she was
fined 100 bucks with a probation of 6 months. if another complaint is filed
within the 6 months she will have to pay 500 dollars. after that she could
start all over again and if she finds that they just changed the laws and
took out the "barking ordinance" as a criminal offence and made a
"responsible ownership" place with the need to have 2 households complain. in all
these years of hell, all the other sufferers would never formally complain
with me because of fear of her retaliation. now i will have to fight this
fight with weaker laws and with still no back up."
We need to get a system in place that will put this type of suffering to an end. This story illustrates the ultimate problem of enforcement.
I wanted to post this quote as an example of a common story I have heard time and again on court cases. The author is still fighting the fight, and still suffering.
"the court case (2 complaints were filed) we "won" against our psychotic
neighbor of 11 years with as many as 13 barking dogs at a time. she was
fined 100 bucks with a probation of 6 months. if another complaint is filed
within the 6 months she will have to pay 500 dollars. after that she could
start all over again and if she finds that they just changed the laws and
took out the "barking ordinance" as a criminal offence and made a
"responsible ownership" place with the need to have 2 households complain. in all
these years of hell, all the other sufferers would never formally complain
with me because of fear of her retaliation. now i will have to fight this
fight with weaker laws and with still no back up."
We need to get a system in place that will put this type of suffering to an end. This story illustrates the ultimate problem of enforcement.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
LA Times Article
Barking Dogs Make a Community Growl
by
Merrill Joan Gerber
Sunday, March 26, 2000
IT'S TIME FOR ``Citizens Against Barking.'' The family dog is an icon in our society, pictured as a friend to the lonely, a comfort to the old, a playmate for children, a guard dog for our property, and in every way ``man's best friend.'' The dog is so beloved that those of us who suffer from repetitive barking-dog noise are afraid to speak out.
But a dog's instinctive barking is often an expression of boredom and indignation in a city environment where the dog is left unattended in a yard or is kept outside when his masters are inside.
A dog without freedom to roam is a restless prisoner and expends enormous vocal energy at a person walking by or a squirrel in a tree. A dog will bark for hours, or howl, or yip as a way to entertain himself.
Dog expert Barbara Woodhouse says in her book ``No Bad Dogs,'' ``There is no such thing as a difficult dog, only an inexperienced owner.'' But many owners are not only inexperienced, they are indifferent to the problem. The hapless citizen who lives nearby will be unable to sleep, to read, to work or to dream.
A study published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (``Noise: A Health Problem'') states that ``noise can produce serious physical and psychological stress. No one is immune to this stress -- noise causes stress and the body reacts with increased adrenaline, changes in heart rate, and elevated blood pressure. Even a small increase in the percentage of heart problems caused by noise could prove debilitating to many thousands of Americans. Noise contributes to heart and circulatory disease and is suspected to lower our resistance to the onset of infection and disease.''
The EPA report states that ``when noise becomes sufficiently loud or unpredictable, or if the stress imposed is great enough, our initial annoyance can become transformed into extreme emotional responses and behavior.''
Cities take action about airport noise and pass laws about leaf blowers, but airplanes will pass over and the gardeners will move on: Dog noise is ongoing, daily, forceful, and unpredictable. City ordinances and enforcement are historically weak in this area (unless they are about picking up dogs' droppings). But what of dogs polluting the environment with noise? The job of ``watchdog'' has largely been replaced by computerized alarm systems, and, in any case, how reliable is a barking dog when anything will set it off and when a prowler can quiet it by tossing it a handful of biscuits?
Barking dogs, like car alarms, don't even raise an eyebrow these days. Those who work at home, or sleep during the day, are most susceptible. If we carried a set of drums into our backyard and banged on them at intervals during the day and night, we would be cited for disturbing the peace. The barking of dogs is as violent a disturbance as any uninvited sound and should not be regarded as a benign expression of animal life.
Occasionally one reads a letter to the editor from someone who is deeply disturbed by dog-barking, but I wonder if there are large numbers of people who share this view and would like to organize for the common cause of quiet in our cities. Former Surgeon General William H. Stewart said in an address to the Conference on Noise as a Public Health Hazard: ``Those things within man's power to control which impact upon the individual in a negative way, which infringe upon his sense of integrity, and interrupt his pursuit of fulfillment, are hazards to public health. Calling noise a nuisance is like calling smog an inconvenience.'' In California we have made serious efforts to reduce smog, but will we quiet our dogs and create peaceful communities?
by
Merrill Joan Gerber
Sunday, March 26, 2000
IT'S TIME FOR ``Citizens Against Barking.'' The family dog is an icon in our society, pictured as a friend to the lonely, a comfort to the old, a playmate for children, a guard dog for our property, and in every way ``man's best friend.'' The dog is so beloved that those of us who suffer from repetitive barking-dog noise are afraid to speak out.
But a dog's instinctive barking is often an expression of boredom and indignation in a city environment where the dog is left unattended in a yard or is kept outside when his masters are inside.
A dog without freedom to roam is a restless prisoner and expends enormous vocal energy at a person walking by or a squirrel in a tree. A dog will bark for hours, or howl, or yip as a way to entertain himself.
Dog expert Barbara Woodhouse says in her book ``No Bad Dogs,'' ``There is no such thing as a difficult dog, only an inexperienced owner.'' But many owners are not only inexperienced, they are indifferent to the problem. The hapless citizen who lives nearby will be unable to sleep, to read, to work or to dream.
A study published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (``Noise: A Health Problem'') states that ``noise can produce serious physical and psychological stress. No one is immune to this stress -- noise causes stress and the body reacts with increased adrenaline, changes in heart rate, and elevated blood pressure. Even a small increase in the percentage of heart problems caused by noise could prove debilitating to many thousands of Americans. Noise contributes to heart and circulatory disease and is suspected to lower our resistance to the onset of infection and disease.''
The EPA report states that ``when noise becomes sufficiently loud or unpredictable, or if the stress imposed is great enough, our initial annoyance can become transformed into extreme emotional responses and behavior.''
Cities take action about airport noise and pass laws about leaf blowers, but airplanes will pass over and the gardeners will move on: Dog noise is ongoing, daily, forceful, and unpredictable. City ordinances and enforcement are historically weak in this area (unless they are about picking up dogs' droppings). But what of dogs polluting the environment with noise? The job of ``watchdog'' has largely been replaced by computerized alarm systems, and, in any case, how reliable is a barking dog when anything will set it off and when a prowler can quiet it by tossing it a handful of biscuits?
Barking dogs, like car alarms, don't even raise an eyebrow these days. Those who work at home, or sleep during the day, are most susceptible. If we carried a set of drums into our backyard and banged on them at intervals during the day and night, we would be cited for disturbing the peace. The barking of dogs is as violent a disturbance as any uninvited sound and should not be regarded as a benign expression of animal life.
Occasionally one reads a letter to the editor from someone who is deeply disturbed by dog-barking, but I wonder if there are large numbers of people who share this view and would like to organize for the common cause of quiet in our cities. Former Surgeon General William H. Stewart said in an address to the Conference on Noise as a Public Health Hazard: ``Those things within man's power to control which impact upon the individual in a negative way, which infringe upon his sense of integrity, and interrupt his pursuit of fulfillment, are hazards to public health. Calling noise a nuisance is like calling smog an inconvenience.'' In California we have made serious efforts to reduce smog, but will we quiet our dogs and create peaceful communities?
Our Story
I started the web QuietPasadena.com website due to frustration. My husband and I looked for houses for about a year before we found ours. We would go to prospective properties and sit on the curb and listen, day and night, to make sure it was a quiet area. We turned down several houses due to dog barking.
Ironically, a year after we bought our house, the neighbor sold and a narcissist with a dog moved in. He seemed very nice, and when he said he had a dog he looked at us and said, "don't worry, he doesn't bark". Hmmm. Blatant lie. And I wonder what kind of trouble he had where he was renting before to have brought it up first thing without us even mentioning it to him? He left the dog out day and night, it woke us up at 6am every morning, barked all day and into the night until he would come home (anywhere from 5-10pm). The dog was completely untrained and so if they had company they had to put him outside because they couldn't control him. He would of course bark the entire time because the people were inside and he was not. Even if the dog were inside, he would sit on the couch, look out the window and bark at everyone walking by. We went over to talk to them about the fence between our properties and he asked us if the dog was barking. For some reason, I answered NO! I guess politeness and the wish to avoid conflict is a strong human instinct. My husband thankfully had the guts to say yes, a lot. The owner said he would try to keep him inside more but of course the problem persisted. My husband and I talked with them several times about the problem, the owner made several promises he did not keep such as bark collars, keeping him in, taking him to work etc. Sometimes the owner would actually keep the dog in for a few days, but then it was back to business as usual. Not to mention the dog barked even when inside. I should mention that our house is 15 feet from theirs, so it sounds like the dog is in our house no matter where he is barking. We tried the sonic trainer, which of course did not work and just pissed the neighbor off. We took it down the minute he complained that he was worried it would hurt his son’s hearing. We were so naive at this point!
We called the humane society finally and they sent a letter to the owner. The dog stayed inside a little more, but it was still a huge problem. I finally wrote a letter myself and enclosed information on dog trainers. I am part German and pretty much say what I think, so the letter may have been too brutally honest (maybe the part about how if they don’t have time to spend with the dog that they shouldn’t have one was what did it?). Anyway, the man got irate and basically started not only leaving the dog out but harassing me when I would go into the yard. For example, I went out to pick figs one day and he and his wife and their friends came out onto their porch and started saying things loudly such as, “Oh, don’t mention the dog! Don’t want to upset the neighbors.” I was pretty shocked that a guy who has a job, a wife, a child and a house would act like a sixth grader. Turns out he’s a bully. I ignored them and they eventually went back inside. Other times he would stand on the property line and make comments about us to his friends knowing we could hear him (again, houses really close). My husband would come home from work and I’d be in tears because of the stress and the harassment by the neighbor. Wish I’d been smart enough then to file a harassment suit. It was to the point that I went to the doctor to get meds for the pain in my stomach and I started having migraines which I’d never had before.
So my husband arranged a meeting with the guy and they hashed it out and came to an agreement that they would keep the dog in until around noon, at which time they would put him out until they got home from work. We both work so that would work OK, except for weekends. He also said if the dog was out barking and bothering us then we could call him and he will come and put him in. The owner works very close to where we live. He also made promises like he would take the dog to work, use a shock collar etc. Surprisingly, they did get a dog trainer to come and give the beast some manners. They had the trainer come and walk the dog during the lunch time too, leaving him inside when she was done. This only lasted as long as they had the dog trainer, once she was done the dog was out all afternoon/evening again. They also moved the couch away from the window and the barking while the dog was in decreased significantly. They still don't walk the dog or spend much time with him alone. In his life he is alone approx. 90% of the time. Why have a pet?
This started a two-year stretch of good behavior/bad behavior with the neighbor. He would keep the dog quiet as it suited him basically. The situation would work OK as long as we didn’t have to be home during the day, and IF someone came home to put the dog in by 5:30. During the summer, the dog could be out until 9pm. Weekends were a crap shoot, again, summer is the worst time because it is warm and stays light longer so the dog is out more. We lived with the situation until I had to be home on maternity leave this past summer. The neighbor said he would only put the dog out while he was home for lunch, which he did for about a week and then the time the dog was out crept longer and longer until he was just coming home for 2 minutes to throw the dog out and leave again. Thursday mornings, at 8 am he would put him out and drive away because his cleaning lady was there. So after being up all night with the baby, I couldn’t sleep in the morning. The first 2 months home with my first child turned into hell because of this selfish guy. My husband would come home to find me in tears because the dog was barking, I was exhausted and sick to my stomach from the stress. I would finally get the baby to sleep and the dog would bark and wake her. We talked to the humane society again and something called “Safe Streets Now”. Safe Streets Now said they could help but we’d have to go through the humane society policy of the multiple household/barking log thing or sue. They were proud of the fact that they had helped a woman get her neighbor’s dog silenced after 3 years of trying! I find it disgraceful that someone had to suffer that long. The only reason she was able to shut the dog up was because the neighbors finally agreed to help her. So she did it with the multiple household law, after 3 years! Why this doesn’t illustrate the current problem to the authorities is beyond me.
Where are we now? The neighbor found out we'd asked other neighbors if the noise bothered them and he went on a 30-minute tirade over the phone, hung up and texted my husband: "Deal with it or you can move". Apparently, the owner puts his "right to do whatever the hell he wants on his own land" before the welfare of a newborn. These days we are back to where we were before I had the baby except now we can't call and tell him the dog is bothering us. It is winter now so it’s not too bad, the dog has to come in by dark because it gets too cold for him. But I know in the summer he’ll be out barking until 9pm again. Baby goes to sleep at 7 and the barking is so loud it’s like the dog is in the house with us, so it wakes her. On weekends if the dog is out I have to take her to the LA Arboretum for her naps. If she is sick or day care is closed, we have to suffer through an afternoon of barking. I dread being in my own house and will do anything to avoid it if the dog is out. Compared to the stories of others, I guess we have it pretty good. But we shouldn’t have to settle for pretty good, we should be able to have peace in our own house and a baby that isn’t sleep deprived on the weekends.
That’s our story. Sorry it was so long. But this situation is why I started the web-site and petition. We had a city council person out to our house who said she would take our requests for change to the council if we could put it into writing. I sent her the ordinance from QuietArizona that was just passed in Arizona. She said she would have the attorney look it over, though where it goes from there I don’t know. She also said it would take years to change an ordinance and by then our dog will probably be dead and it won’t help us. My reply was that we need change for everyone, not just our situation. If it doesn’t help us, fine. But nobody should have to wait 3 years to get their life back. I want to facilitate change for the community, and hopefully if we can do it in Pasadena, we can get other cities to adopt it. I envision a Quiet Los Angeles that encompasses all of the different cities, kind of like Quiet Arizona has different counties with charter groups.
Ironically, a year after we bought our house, the neighbor sold and a narcissist with a dog moved in. He seemed very nice, and when he said he had a dog he looked at us and said, "don't worry, he doesn't bark". Hmmm. Blatant lie. And I wonder what kind of trouble he had where he was renting before to have brought it up first thing without us even mentioning it to him? He left the dog out day and night, it woke us up at 6am every morning, barked all day and into the night until he would come home (anywhere from 5-10pm). The dog was completely untrained and so if they had company they had to put him outside because they couldn't control him. He would of course bark the entire time because the people were inside and he was not. Even if the dog were inside, he would sit on the couch, look out the window and bark at everyone walking by. We went over to talk to them about the fence between our properties and he asked us if the dog was barking. For some reason, I answered NO! I guess politeness and the wish to avoid conflict is a strong human instinct. My husband thankfully had the guts to say yes, a lot. The owner said he would try to keep him inside more but of course the problem persisted. My husband and I talked with them several times about the problem, the owner made several promises he did not keep such as bark collars, keeping him in, taking him to work etc. Sometimes the owner would actually keep the dog in for a few days, but then it was back to business as usual. Not to mention the dog barked even when inside. I should mention that our house is 15 feet from theirs, so it sounds like the dog is in our house no matter where he is barking. We tried the sonic trainer, which of course did not work and just pissed the neighbor off. We took it down the minute he complained that he was worried it would hurt his son’s hearing. We were so naive at this point!
We called the humane society finally and they sent a letter to the owner. The dog stayed inside a little more, but it was still a huge problem. I finally wrote a letter myself and enclosed information on dog trainers. I am part German and pretty much say what I think, so the letter may have been too brutally honest (maybe the part about how if they don’t have time to spend with the dog that they shouldn’t have one was what did it?). Anyway, the man got irate and basically started not only leaving the dog out but harassing me when I would go into the yard. For example, I went out to pick figs one day and he and his wife and their friends came out onto their porch and started saying things loudly such as, “Oh, don’t mention the dog! Don’t want to upset the neighbors.” I was pretty shocked that a guy who has a job, a wife, a child and a house would act like a sixth grader. Turns out he’s a bully. I ignored them and they eventually went back inside. Other times he would stand on the property line and make comments about us to his friends knowing we could hear him (again, houses really close). My husband would come home from work and I’d be in tears because of the stress and the harassment by the neighbor. Wish I’d been smart enough then to file a harassment suit. It was to the point that I went to the doctor to get meds for the pain in my stomach and I started having migraines which I’d never had before.
So my husband arranged a meeting with the guy and they hashed it out and came to an agreement that they would keep the dog in until around noon, at which time they would put him out until they got home from work. We both work so that would work OK, except for weekends. He also said if the dog was out barking and bothering us then we could call him and he will come and put him in. The owner works very close to where we live. He also made promises like he would take the dog to work, use a shock collar etc. Surprisingly, they did get a dog trainer to come and give the beast some manners. They had the trainer come and walk the dog during the lunch time too, leaving him inside when she was done. This only lasted as long as they had the dog trainer, once she was done the dog was out all afternoon/evening again. They also moved the couch away from the window and the barking while the dog was in decreased significantly. They still don't walk the dog or spend much time with him alone. In his life he is alone approx. 90% of the time. Why have a pet?
This started a two-year stretch of good behavior/bad behavior with the neighbor. He would keep the dog quiet as it suited him basically. The situation would work OK as long as we didn’t have to be home during the day, and IF someone came home to put the dog in by 5:30. During the summer, the dog could be out until 9pm. Weekends were a crap shoot, again, summer is the worst time because it is warm and stays light longer so the dog is out more. We lived with the situation until I had to be home on maternity leave this past summer. The neighbor said he would only put the dog out while he was home for lunch, which he did for about a week and then the time the dog was out crept longer and longer until he was just coming home for 2 minutes to throw the dog out and leave again. Thursday mornings, at 8 am he would put him out and drive away because his cleaning lady was there. So after being up all night with the baby, I couldn’t sleep in the morning. The first 2 months home with my first child turned into hell because of this selfish guy. My husband would come home to find me in tears because the dog was barking, I was exhausted and sick to my stomach from the stress. I would finally get the baby to sleep and the dog would bark and wake her. We talked to the humane society again and something called “Safe Streets Now”. Safe Streets Now said they could help but we’d have to go through the humane society policy of the multiple household/barking log thing or sue. They were proud of the fact that they had helped a woman get her neighbor’s dog silenced after 3 years of trying! I find it disgraceful that someone had to suffer that long. The only reason she was able to shut the dog up was because the neighbors finally agreed to help her. So she did it with the multiple household law, after 3 years! Why this doesn’t illustrate the current problem to the authorities is beyond me.
Where are we now? The neighbor found out we'd asked other neighbors if the noise bothered them and he went on a 30-minute tirade over the phone, hung up and texted my husband: "Deal with it or you can move". Apparently, the owner puts his "right to do whatever the hell he wants on his own land" before the welfare of a newborn. These days we are back to where we were before I had the baby except now we can't call and tell him the dog is bothering us. It is winter now so it’s not too bad, the dog has to come in by dark because it gets too cold for him. But I know in the summer he’ll be out barking until 9pm again. Baby goes to sleep at 7 and the barking is so loud it’s like the dog is in the house with us, so it wakes her. On weekends if the dog is out I have to take her to the LA Arboretum for her naps. If she is sick or day care is closed, we have to suffer through an afternoon of barking. I dread being in my own house and will do anything to avoid it if the dog is out. Compared to the stories of others, I guess we have it pretty good. But we shouldn’t have to settle for pretty good, we should be able to have peace in our own house and a baby that isn’t sleep deprived on the weekends.
That’s our story. Sorry it was so long. But this situation is why I started the web-site and petition. We had a city council person out to our house who said she would take our requests for change to the council if we could put it into writing. I sent her the ordinance from QuietArizona that was just passed in Arizona. She said she would have the attorney look it over, though where it goes from there I don’t know. She also said it would take years to change an ordinance and by then our dog will probably be dead and it won’t help us. My reply was that we need change for everyone, not just our situation. If it doesn’t help us, fine. But nobody should have to wait 3 years to get their life back. I want to facilitate change for the community, and hopefully if we can do it in Pasadena, we can get other cities to adopt it. I envision a Quiet Los Angeles that encompasses all of the different cities, kind of like Quiet Arizona has different counties with charter groups.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Welcome
This blog is a forum for sufferers of the forced infusion of dog barking into their homes. Feel free to post your own experiences, frustrations with trying to solve the problem or suggestions for new ways in which to do so. Keep in mind we are not people who hate dogs, in fact, we are usually animal lovers who are distressed both by the incessant noise and the message that the dog creating it is unhappy. Dog ownership is a privilege, not a right. This privilege comes with responsibility to both the dog's well-being and the well being of those who live in the community. Responsible dog owners do not keep dogs who bark. Let's create change both for the humans and the animals in our community.
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