For some excellent advice on how to handle noisy neighbors with or without a barking dog, including the anonymous letter approach, click here:
How to Handle Noisy Neighbors and Their Barking Dogs
If you are a victim of irresponsible dog owners with barking dogs, visit BarkingDogs.net
If you live in Monroe/Union County, NC also see Ordinances and Local Contacts
If you are in a position (e.g., judge, magistrate, law enforcement, city council, county commissioner, etc.) to put an end to nuisance dog barking or to enforce noise nuisance laws but don't view the problem as serious, click here: Why Exposure to Chronic Dog Barking is So Profoundly Debilitating and here: The Deleterious Effect of Exposing People to Noise

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Barking Dog Court

On January 13, 2011 my barking dog owner neighbors appeared in court for the citation they were finally issued on December 20, 2010, for violation of the City's noise ordinance as pertains to animals. Initially, they wished to plead "not guilty" and asked for a public defender to represent them. They were denied this request. Why? Because the public defender's office has more important things to defend than irresponsible dog owners and their barking dogs. Mrs. Barking Dog wanted to retain a private attorney, which would have been an absurd waste of money considering all the evidence against them...most importantly the statements of the Animal Control Officer...and I believe equally important were my statemets as to how many times I'd been awakened during this whole sordid affair...but in the end they pleading guilty. After the judge heard the statements from the Animal Control Officer and my statements, he asked my neighbor what had been done to remedy the situation, to which Mr. Barking Dog replied, "we got a bark collar." The judge asked him when, and he said 1 week ago... The judge looked at me, I referred to my logs and told the judge that I'd been awakened 5 times in the last week between the hours of midnight and 6:30 a.m.

In the end, my neighbors were fined $100, which the City of Monroe ordinances state is the fine for the 1st citation for the violation that my neighbors are guilty of, and they also had to pay court costs which made the total over $200. He also told my neighbors that the Animal Control Officer could have issued a misdemeanor warrant rather than a citation, which I guess would mean immediate arrest. The judge said he didn't believe in putting people in jail for barking dogs...but he had no problem with taking their money, and informed my neighbors that the fine for a 2nd citation, and every citation there after, would be $500 (plus court costs). The judge told them he just can't be having people disturbing other people's peace & quiet in their homes, waking them up at all hours and depriving them the use of the enjoyment of their property and home.

It's been very peaceful since that day in court...well, at least in terms of dog barking...

My neighbors, being the hostile, immature and vindictive type, have begun starting their motorcyle up early in the morning, revving it up and letting it idle with the throttle on (thus making it quite loud) for a good long time, then shutting it off and never going anywhere...

Let me remind you that I'm talking about a woman in her late 60s and a man in his early 70s... people who should have long ago gone past the stage of immaturity and disregard for their fellow human beings... at least they can't keep that motorcycle running as long as they let their dogs bark on and on. If they tried to match the dog barking with their motorcycle, the motorcycle would surely die fairly quickly.

I never had a problem with my neighbor and his motorcycle...until after they got that citation. I can't prove it, but maybe they figured since I complained about their barking dogs and they were going to have to keep them quiet or it would cost them too much money in fines...they'd show me...
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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Sleep Deprivation Caused by Dog Barking

"Sleep deprivation refers to a lack of sleep due to something externally impacting your opportunity to sleep."
Since I am chronically sleep derpived thanks to my neighbor's barking dog, I've decided to do some research on just how much harm my neighbors are inflicting on me by allowing their dogs to keep me up at night and/or wake me up at all hours. I could tell you the harm I'm experiencing without the research, but it always helps if you have data to back up your story, especially when talking to people who don't view the dog barking problem as being serious.

"At the very least, sleep deprivation is cruel, inhumane and degrading. If used for prolonged periods of time it is torture."
Nicole Bieske, Director and National President of Amnesty International Australia

As many of us know, the use of sleep deprivation has been used as a means of interrogation. Is this an effective means of getting someone to talk? Absolutely, but not if you want the truth. Hell, I'd say anything to get that dog to shut up so that I can sleep.

"Most commonly detainees are deprived of sleep. Although this leaves few physical signs, it can be very damaging psychologically. The European Court has declared it to be illegal."
Professor Richard J Aldrich, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick

The use of sleep deprivation as a method of interrogation has resulted in court trials over whether or not the method is a form of torture. Of course, they'd save a lot of time and money if they just surveyed those of us who have lived next to barking dogs but, well, you know how governments are.

"A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours of lost sleep for parents in the first year."

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing babies to barking dogs, but anyone who has had a newborn is familiar with sleep deprivation. While I've heard of some people who are tortued by barking dogs that caused near total sleep deprivation, like that during interrogation and torture where the detainee is usually kept awake for days at a time, the sleep deprivation I experience because of my neighbors and their loud dogs is partial sleep deprivation and somewhat like when you have a newborn baby that wakes mulitple times during the night to be fed...but for 2-3 years or longer. The differences are, it was my choice to have the kid, the feeding/waking times are usually predictable with babies, with my kids I usually went back to sleep right away after the feeding, and they were usually sleeping through the night within 6 months. Although I've heard that some parents are often kept awake for hours with their newborns, I did not have this problem...but with the barking dogs I do.

"Even minor changes in sleep ... can impair a school kid's learning, memory, attention, concentration"
Professor Avi Sadeh, DSc, director of the Laboratory for Children's Sleep and Arousal Disorders at Tel Aviv University, at WebMD.

With my neighbors barking dogs one never knows when they will start barking or how long they will be barking...so the barking dogs are actually more like living in an abusive relationship (been there, done that...) where the abuser is unpredictable and one is always on guard, night and day, lest the abuser suddenly has a fit of hostility. It's no wonder children from abusive homes have behavioral and learning problems: not only does the abuse undermine their sense of security, it also causes them sleep deprivation...

"Sleep is needed to regenerate certain parts of the body, especially the brain, so that it may continue to function optimally. After periods of extended wakefulness or reduced sleep neurons may begin to malfunction, visibly effecting a person's behavior."
Serendip, founded & supported by Bryn Mawr College


One, among many, of the things that freaks me out about my inconsiderate neighbors allowing their dogs to keep me awake is that I'm afraid to drive the next day because my brain is foggy, my attention on the road tends to waver and after a stressful night of prolonged barking I've even felt like I've fallen asleep at the wheel with my eyes open; apparently this is known as a microsleep. This is common among the sleep deprived, and microsleeps have apparently been the cause of some major disasters around the world. So, really, my barking dog neighbors are not only harming me but also putting others in harms way...

" ...researchers in Australia and New Zealand reported that sleep deprivation can have some of the same hazardous effects as being drunk."
2002 study published in the British Medical Journal

So the obvious effects of sleep deprivation that I've noticed in myself are difficulty concentrating, inability to form clear thoughts, decreased problem solving ability, slurred speech, forgetfullness (including mid sentence), mood swings, depression, behavioral changes, irritability, paranoia...there are probably more but I can't remember... And apparently this lack of sleep is also contributing to the amount of physical pain I now have...

Oh, of course, some might say that these symptoms are just a normal part of the aging process (hey, I'm only 54...I suppose I could be losing my mind already and it just coincides with the arrival of the barking dog next door...)...so does that mean I get younger when I get away from the barking for a few days and the symptoms subside?

Some of these symptoms I'm experiencing are similar to some of those that were observed (by Lt. Cmdr. John J. Ross of the U.S. Navy Medical Neuropsychiatric Research Unit in San Diego) in Randy Gardiner, a student...a foolish idiot...who purposely remained awake for 11 days to gain entrance in the Guiness Book of World Records...I guess I was an odd youth because I really valued my sleep, in fact it was the best part of the day, and I always got 8 hours at night and a 1 hour nap in the afternoon, like clockwork I was and never needed an alarm clock. I was so fond of my sleep that I even experimented with dreaming and could often make myself dream what I wanted to. Ahhh...fond memories of sleep...days long gone.

"...even healthy people's brains mimic certain pathological psychiatric patterns when deprived of sleep,"
Matthew Walker, assistant professor of psychology and director of UC Berkeley's Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory, and former sleep researcher at Harvard Medical School

OK, I realize I'm suffering from cognitive deficits and a certain degree of what appears to be something similar to mental illness, thanks to my horrible neighbors and their awful barking dogs, but, even though I've felt rather "psycho" at times, I don't think I'm actually psychotic yet...would I even know that I was psychotic if I was psychotic? Which brings us to the really, really scary part: what effect is sleep deprivation having on me that I am not even aware of? Sleep deprivation apparently has the potential to cause a myriad of serious health problems including cardiovascualr (increases C-reactive protein which increases chance of heart attack), metabolic & endocrine (diabetes, thyroid, weight problems), weakens the immune system, increases inflammation...

"If sleep deprivation continues, hallucinations and mood swings may develop."

Well, if I wish to be hallucinating, I would choose hallucinogens over dog induced sleep deprivation.

More on Sleep Deprivation...
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