Communism... Doncha Love It?
Outraged that his Internet posting about dogs had been banned, Chen Yuhua wrote to the mayor of Beijing. No answer. He wrote to the city council. Still no answer. When all else failed, he consulted a lawyer, studied China's civil code and marched into court with a lawsuit... it was also a sign that, beneath the ever more prosperous surface, some of China's educated elite may be growing impatient with a one-party authoritarian system in which anonymous bureaucrats decide what movies, plays, novels or social commentaries are safe enough for public consumption. Chen's posting was an attack on the Beijing municipal government's regulations barring any dog over 14 inches high and restricting each family to only one dog. These rules are unreasonable and are enforced arbitrarily, he contended in his essay. "It is so funny that people may have a 35-centimeter-high dog but may not have a 36-centimeter-high dog," he said. Criticism of government policies and nonconformist political views, however, are not taken lightly in China.
China is a great nation, and I highly respect the Chinese people. Hopefully, they will throw off the chains of Communism soon. This is how silly it gets when you try to over-regulate people. We even see this kind of garbage here in the good ol' free US of A... proposed pit bull bans, stupid anti-barking laws, and on and on. No one likes a world run by a bunch of busybodies.
Case in point...
"Subject: Barking dog
Dear Sam,
Hello. Wondering if you have any ideas for the following situation? I have a neighbor behind my house, who happens to be a deputy sheriff who do not want my dog to bark AT ALL; and has nearly gotten me a MISDEMEANOR with potential jail time, because of my barking dog. I have a 5 year old dog who is mainly an in-doors pet. I adopted her from the dog pound 4 years ago. This dog barks when the door bell rings, when hears someone comes into the yard, loud noises etc) and has a rather loud bark. --I don't believe it barks excessively or constantly, nor any of my neighbors, except for the one deputy neighbor of mine. Who called the police to my home 7 times since I moved to the neighborhood, left nasty notes at my door, and ultimately landed me in court to face a poss. misdemeanor, which I fought and got dismissed. I've tried citronella sprays, shock collars, anti-bark devices, correcting the dog immediately when it barks etc. Despite all that an my best efforts to keep her quiet, the dog still barks (though not excessively) for the above reasons... What else is there to do?? I am at a point that I am about to take the dog back to the pound. My kids are in tears every day about it, and that is not really what I'd like to do, but this neighbor has managed to harass us constantly that we live in a continued stress and worrying that the dog may bark. I've heard about a surgery where the dog's vocal cords can be removed. Is that recommended in a case such as this?? And, what is involved with doing that?? I would appreciate your advice."
I'd do what this guy did in China... Maybe it will work here. Banning barking and making it criminal is no different than banning dogs. Dogs make noise, folks. Get used to it.
Outraged that his Internet posting about dogs had been banned, Chen Yuhua wrote to the mayor of Beijing. No answer. He wrote to the city council. Still no answer. When all else failed, he consulted a lawyer, studied China's civil code and marched into court with a lawsuit... it was also a sign that, beneath the ever more prosperous surface, some of China's educated elite may be growing impatient with a one-party authoritarian system in which anonymous bureaucrats decide what movies, plays, novels or social commentaries are safe enough for public consumption. Chen's posting was an attack on the Beijing municipal government's regulations barring any dog over 14 inches high and restricting each family to only one dog. These rules are unreasonable and are enforced arbitrarily, he contended in his essay. "It is so funny that people may have a 35-centimeter-high dog but may not have a 36-centimeter-high dog," he said. Criticism of government policies and nonconformist political views, however, are not taken lightly in China.
China is a great nation, and I highly respect the Chinese people. Hopefully, they will throw off the chains of Communism soon. This is how silly it gets when you try to over-regulate people. We even see this kind of garbage here in the good ol' free US of A... proposed pit bull bans, stupid anti-barking laws, and on and on. No one likes a world run by a bunch of busybodies.
Case in point...
"Subject: Barking dog
Dear Sam,
Hello. Wondering if you have any ideas for the following situation? I have a neighbor behind my house, who happens to be a deputy sheriff who do not want my dog to bark AT ALL; and has nearly gotten me a MISDEMEANOR with potential jail time, because of my barking dog. I have a 5 year old dog who is mainly an in-doors pet. I adopted her from the dog pound 4 years ago. This dog barks when the door bell rings, when hears someone comes into the yard, loud noises etc) and has a rather loud bark. --I don't believe it barks excessively or constantly, nor any of my neighbors, except for the one deputy neighbor of mine. Who called the police to my home 7 times since I moved to the neighborhood, left nasty notes at my door, and ultimately landed me in court to face a poss. misdemeanor, which I fought and got dismissed. I've tried citronella sprays, shock collars, anti-bark devices, correcting the dog immediately when it barks etc. Despite all that an my best efforts to keep her quiet, the dog still barks (though not excessively) for the above reasons... What else is there to do?? I am at a point that I am about to take the dog back to the pound. My kids are in tears every day about it, and that is not really what I'd like to do, but this neighbor has managed to harass us constantly that we live in a continued stress and worrying that the dog may bark. I've heard about a surgery where the dog's vocal cords can be removed. Is that recommended in a case such as this?? And, what is involved with doing that?? I would appreciate your advice."
I'd do what this guy did in China... Maybe it will work here. Banning barking and making it criminal is no different than banning dogs. Dogs make noise, folks. Get used to it.
2 comments:
Yes, dogs bark and we understand that. But we had a case in our neighborhood of a dog that barked ALL THE TIME. That isn't being a dog, that is being a nuisance and giving all dogs and owners a bad name. Dogs need to be taught to be good citizens.
Yes, I agree you have to manage your dogs. I am especially careful about making sure I teach customers to stay on top of the noise making.
The problem, however, is the criminalizing of reasonable amounts of barking which allows busybodies the ability to harass others beyond measure.
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