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

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Letter to My Barking Dog Neighbors...

Rather than go through the nightmare of having to listen further to that damn shrill fellow and taking the chance that it will again escalate into a traumatic affair, and of having to keep calling the police and animal control again, I've decided to send the following letter, or similar, to my neighbors:

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Barking Dog Owner, (of course I'll use their real names in the letter...)

During the 7 months following the 2nd time you were summoned to court for violating the animal noise ordinance, I rarely heard any barking from your dogs, and things had been very acceptable. I was finally able to begin getting proper sleep and also spend more time in my yard, not to mention just enjoy being at home again. If this had been my experience with your dogs from the beginning, we would never have had a problem.

However, over the last few weeks you have been allowing [The Loud One] to remain in the yard barking for extended periods, and I have been disturbed and annoyed to the point of having to call the police on November 9, 2011 at approximately 3:30 a.m., after having been awakened at approximately 2:00 a.m. and then having to endure his barking for the next 1 1/2 hours, until the police arrived at which time you quickly called the dogs in, but not soon enough because the officer had heard the barking before he pulled into the driveway. I also have several video/sound recordings, that I made from inside of my house, of [The Loud One] barking during the 1 1/2 hours before I called the police.

You have 2 choices here:
  1. You can refrain from allowing your dogs to bark during the day, and keep them inside at night like the judge ordered at the last court hearing, or
  2. You can let them bark at whatever time of the day or night you wish and I'll make sure you receive another citation for violating the animal noise ordinance (see attached) at which time I will tell the Court that you have not abided by the Judge's order to keep your dogs inside at night (and I have video/sound recording and witness statements to this effect). As a courtesy, I'll remind you that at the last court hearing the judge said he would consider taking the dogs away if a 3rd citation was issued for this same violation.
In addition to another citation, if you choose to keep letting your dogs annoy me so severely, I have the option of filing a Private Nuisance lawsuit against you at which time I could be awarded a monetary compensation, which you would have to pay, for the damages you have inflicted on me over the last few years. I have consulted with several advisers about this lawsuit, and with all of the video/sound recordings I have, the written logs I've kept, the witness statements from other neighbors, visitor and the police and animal control officers, my medical records and bills directly related to the problems I've suffered from being deprived of sleep, from the stress of having to continually listen to this horrendous noise in my house, and from not being able to use and enjoy my yard because of this noise...and the fact that you have twice admitted guilt to the courts, the financial damages to you could be considerable.

In addition to your negligence in this matter, I have several witnesses who will testify as to your malicious behavior, in other words that, after I asked you to stop the barking and then involved the law, you spitefully proceeded to make your dogs to bark at your command in order to annoy me further (harrassment).

Further more, if any of my cats disappear, are harmed, or die of anything other than natural causes, I will immediately bring a Private Nuisance lawsuit against you.

If these were my dogs I never would have allowed this to happen but since I have no control over your dogs, the choice is yours as it always has been. You decide which way you want this to go.

Sincerely,
Barking Mad in NC

(attachment)
City of Monroe Code of Ordinances
Title IX: General Regulations
Chapter 92: Noise Control

§ 92.07 ANIMALS. It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep or have in his possession, or harbor, any dog, other animal or bird(s) which, by frequent or habitually howling, yelping, barking, or otherwise cause loud noises, and produce seriously annoying disturbance to any person or to the neighborhood.

Here We Go Again...

Well, knowing my neighbors as I do, I should have known it wouldn't last.

I haven't written since my neighbors received their 2nd citation for violating the animal noise ordinance because since then there has been very little barking and I have been trying to recover and heal from the horrible noise trauma and sleep deprivation of the previous 2+ years of barking hell.

To sum up the last legal events at the 2nd court hearing on April 7, 2011...well, I won't go into the statements I made as you can pretty much guess all that, but Mr. Barking Dog had to face the court alone because he was again deserted by his wife (who was the one who wanted the barking dogs). To further spare you the gory details I'll sum it up by saying that he pleaded guilty, the judge once again fined him $100 (plus court fees), told him the dogs were to be inside the house...not on the screened porch (as I had told the judge that when I am in any room on that side of the house I can also hear them barking when they are in the screened porch), between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and also told him that if they received a 3rd citation the court would consider taking the dogs away, or sending them to training classes because we can't have people having their sleep and peace disturbed like this. Well, I'm certain none of them want to attend training classes with their unruly mutts, and I know at least Mrs. Barking Dog does not want the dogs taken away, and I also know that they really cannot afford to continue paying fines. Mr. Barking Dog was not happy that the dogs had to be inside (remember, they are not house trained...even though they've had both dogs since they were young pups). He wanted to leave them on the screened porch but the judge wasn't having it... thank you Your Honor.

Well, I'll tell you this: they did not keep both dogs in the house between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., but they did keep the shrill, chronic, yakker...The Loud One...inside at night and I heard very little from that obnoxious fellow. You have no idea what a relief this was...or unfortunately, maybe you do. Initially they also kept the other dog...The (Formerly) Quiet One...in the house at night, but then I began seeing her in the yard at night on her own. She would bark occasionally, which would immediately stir up anxiety, but it never lasted long and, I'll tell ya, if that's all the barking there ever had been all this time we would not have had a problems here.

Back to the present: for the last few weeks the Shrill One has been left in the yard for longer intervals and of course when this fellow is in the yard, he must bark. Remember, this idiot doesn't breath, he barks. If he just let out a few yaks now and then, it would be OK, but that's just not him and they are allowing him to go on and on...and the periods are becoming longer...the other day it was about 2 hours, and I finally went out and gave him a good blast with my water cannon. The sad thing is, besides the obvious noise, is that when both those dogs see me near the fence they run over wagging their tail, jumping up to get their heads scratched. I'll oblige The Quiet One with the reward, as she once again is living up to her name, and I feel sorry for her because both Mr. & Mrs. Barking Dog never really wanted her...but anyway all that is another issue totally.

To get back to the problem at hand, the other night beginning just before 2 a.m. and continuing on until I called the cops at about 3:30 a.m., The Loud One was outside yakking his head off. Initially I just tried to ignore it because I thought surely they would put a stop to the racket. But no, so I called the cops and, I'll be damned, no sooner had I gotten off the phone I saw the dog run to the back door wagging their tails, looking up at the door... Now what does that tell you? Well, one time the Animal Control officer said they might have a police scanner...hmmm...

At that point the police hadn't arrived yet, and the dogs were left outside but the barking had ceased so I thought..."oh, great...just what I need, for the cops to show up and there is no barking." But as luck would have it, the Loud One began yakking again just when I saw the police car cruising by, and as soon as they pulled into the driveway the dogs started barking. Just as quickly, however, I saw someone open the back door and the dogs ran inside. Later, when I talked with the responding officer...who I might add was very sympathetic because he'd had a barking dog problem with one of his neighbors...can you imagine someone allowing their barking dog to disturb a police officer in the middle of the night?...the officer told me he'd heard the barking when he first got their and that nobody would answer the door. I told him what had happened, the dogs being let inside right about the same time I saw him getting out of his car. I briefly, if you can believe that, told him the whole story, from beginning to end, and he said he would leave a report with the Animal Control officer to follow up.

I called the Animal Control officer later in the morning, but he was going in late that day and so had not yet seen any memos but he said he would follow up with a nice visit to my barking dog neighbors. I did not see him but he must have done so because that day and that night there were maybe only a dozen isolated barks.

Unfortunately, yesterday late afternoon the damn shrill yakker was out there for a couple of hours and i finally went out to blast him with my water cannon...this time laced with citronella...but as soon as I got out there he ran to the back door. What does that tell you? No, I'm not just paranoid. One of my other neighbors and a couple of friends are convinced they let or make that dog bark just to annoy me now. Well, I know it's true because I caught Mrs. Barking Dog doing exactly that in the past, a senior citizen in her mid 60s...such a rude and childish person. So, on to the next step with I will outline in my next posting...