Sunday, November 06, 2005

Dog Barking Laws = Dog Ban Laws

Have you ever considered the dog barking laws in your town?

In many cities, the laws are completely outrageous.

All you need is a nasty neighbor and a dog. Your neighbor doesn’t like you, so they complain about your dog barking… even if your dog can’t be heard at all. Then you get a complaint notice and warning from the city. In some places, if someone files 3 complaints, the city can come and take your dog away from you… even if the complaints aren’t substantiated!

I know of one case where the dog owner, and her dog, even when they weren’t home… the neighbor was making complaints to the city. This customer of mine had paid nearly $10,000 in legal fees to fight the city. The city either wanted her to get rid of her dogs, or have them debarked (an inhumane surgical procedure where the dog’s vocal cords are surgically removed).

I know of another regarding a professional dog kennel.

Check this one out… This is a real letter I received from this kennel operator… now, tell me, don’t you think the dog barking laws need changing?

IF YOU BAN DOG BARKING, IT IS A DOG OWNERSHIP BAN!

CASE STUDY

Sam,

My husband and I own a boarding facility. We have a disgruntled neighbor causing trouble. Their latest stunt is to have a officer they know place a habitual barking citation on our dog boarding facility. This is to cause trouble with our conditional use. What I have heard via other trainers and Animal behaviorist is habitual barking does not exist, it is actually separation anxiety barking and it does not exist in boarding facilities.

So we need all the information you might have on separation anxiety barking and ways to control it.

Thank you,

XXXXX



Hi

First, you need an attorney involved. This is primarily a legal issue. I have seen this kind of thing before with neighbors. Second, you should run a 24 hour surveillance camera with microphone at your facility, to document what the real circumstances at your business. And to see if the neighbors are harassing the dogs to make them bark even more.

Regarding behavior. Dogs will bark out of boredom, or as a way of talking to the other dogs, or out of worry as they see dogs they don’t know, and also you can have dogs bark with separation anxiety. I have an article about separation anxiety at the my web page. If it is separation anxiety, you also see desperate attempts to escape, as well as typical signs of anxiety: whining, drooling… the dogs almost drool all over themselves, pacing, etc. The escape attempts can be life threatening… eating through the chain link, climbing the fencing, getting bloody paws and faces from escape attempts, etc. I doubt that this is the reason your dogs are barking.

Does this help?

Sam



HI Sam,

Yes this does help. We do have an attorney involved two actually.

We also have a security cameras that show if anyone comes onto our property again. But interesting enough it shows this woman hiding behind the vegetables in their renter’s vegetable garden. We also have the employees that are willing to make statements that the dogs were not outside nor were they barking at that time of the day. Plus I have done comparison tapes that prove they are lying.

The animal control office with the sheriff department is the same one putting the citation on this facility for habitual barking. Yet she can not define it to anyone.

We had a sound testing done that proves the sound level outside at property lines. And we have heard them playing dog barking tapes and heard them slamming shed doors repeatedly, shouting as loud as they can. And we caught them red handed hassling the dogs at 6:00 am one morning. Our security camera does not have audio so I would have to leave a video camera up at all times. It might come to that.

The one time the dogs were outside that they are complaining about, the five dogs that were outside were barking at these neighbors.

We have had dogs barking when those neighbors decide to target shoot 60 feet from the end of our driveway with high powered deer rifles. Those are louder then any dog that has ever barked here. And I have a tape of the rifle shots.

The reason they bark is simple disturbance barking which every facility in the country has happening. It is not habitual barking.

These people are just trying to close us down and we are legal and they ran across two very stubborn people that won't do what they want. They are very spoiled adults with nothing better to do with themselves. My sister thinks they have a personal vendetta against me.

Thanks

XXXXX



Hi

People like this need a mental evaluation.

Sam

No comments: