Barking

Chronic barking is more than one barking episode per day with no emergency
present or dogs barking at everything and anything too much and too often. Barking
dogs are the number one nuisance complaints in neighborhoods. Constant barking
is puppy behavior from dogs that have not been trained and socialized properly.
Dogs bark for a variety of reasons such as fear, abandonment, illness, frustration,
attention, anger, abuse and most often, boredom. The number one reason dogs
bark uncontrollably are because their owners allow them. Their owners enclose
their dogs on small properties or on ropes or chains, leave them unattended for
long periods of time, do not feed or water them adequately and do not give them
enough attention, exercise, supervision or socialization. Their owners have failed to
make the effort to train and socialize their dogs or care for them properly because
they are too apathetic, lazy or stupid. This creates unnecessary noise pollution
which affects the peace and enjoyment of neighborhood environments, health of
victims, and has become an overwhelming human rights issue worldwide.

What VICTIMS Can Do:

Many of you are hesitant to fight for your rights to a peaceful environment, but
whether you know it or not, you ARE fighting - for your health and sanity. The
bad dog owners have waged a war with their inconsiderate, anti-social behavior
and to ignore them is allowing domestic terrorism to continue. You have the right
to a peaceful, bark-free environment on your own property and in your own home.

1. Contact police or animal control for information on local ordinances. Ask for
procedural advice and if they give advice, follow due-process steps.

2. Contact bad dog owner either in-person or anonymously at least once in writing.
No more than twice or you might be accused of harassment or stalking due to the
warped sense of bad dog owner judgment.

3. Keep records of all bad dog owner contact.

4. Keep a dog log of barking episodes. Although we understand this further victimizes
the victim, currently it's all we have for evidence without law enforcement taking
responsibility and doing their jobs. No other assault victim must keep a log of the
abuse.

5. Call the police everytime the dog barks so it's on record. Let the dispatch
know you want the officers to come to your house to speak with you after they
investigate the dog noise (unless you prefer anonymity). The police will often drive
by the house, not bother getting out of their cars, drive away and file a report that
no dogs were barking.

6. If possible and if comfortable, find neighbors to support you especially in the
case of multiple neighbor requirements.

7. Video taping barking episodes with date and time. This serves as evidence for
future legal procedures. Posting videos on YouTube for all to see has had some
effect to curb bad dog owner behaviors, and overt vs. discreet taping sends a
clear message! This is usually a sign you are gathering evidence for a lawsuit.

8. If bad dog owners are renters, contact the owner or manager of the building.

9. If bad dog owners are living in a gated community or subject to neighborhood
convenants, contact the governing committee.

10. Contact a lawyer and have him/her write a letter to the bad dog owners. This
is costly, but effective.

11. Write letters to the local newspaper, city council, city mayor,and/or county
commissioners demanding better animal control and enforcement.

12. Join anti-barking dog lists and become an activist for better dog control and
ownership requirements.

13. Work with city and county councils to update and create effective dog
barking ordinances. Or better, become a city or county council member!

14. Report the bad dog owners to various websites fighting pet abuse.

15. Contact politicians who have supported the "Quiet Communities Act" HR 2895
of 2005 and insist the act be resurrected and dog noise be added as a source of
noise pollution.

16. Some victims have experience great satisfaction from "nuisance retaliation". We
know of one woman who sends her daughter out with cymbals to march along the
fence line banging away "clearing the air". Another victim, after no response from law
enforcement, rigged a car horn to a pole on his property connected to a push button.
The horn was honked as often and as long as the dogs barked. Since the bad dog
owners just had a new baby, they asked him if he would stop the noise as it kept
waking the child. They finally moved. Yet another victim sent his young daughter
outside to practice her clarinet. He claims she was a beginner. Weed whackers early
in the morning, unmuffled lawn mowers, Jingle Bells barked by dogs over loud
speakers, rap music.... The risk is the police showing up on YOUR doorstep, but
sometimes you do what you need to do to make a point. Be prepared to risk the
consequences.

18. Last option, you can move. As a renter, this freedom might be the only
worthwhile solution unless you end up living next to another barking dog. The
problem is, due to lack of adequate controls, they are all over. As a home
owner - easier said than done, right? Who will buy your house next to a
barking dog? Will you be required to disclose the barking dog to prospective
owners? How will this lower the property value (as if it's not already low enough
due to the barking problem)?

The problem of animal control is worldwide. It's time we fight for our right
to a peaceful environment.

Always keep in mind irresponsible dog owners are known for their sociopathic
mental illness including symptoms such as, but not limited to, aggression, paranoia,
and entitlement delusions. They have been known to attack and kill complainants
with little provocation.

What Bad Dog Owners Can Do:

1. Understand YOU are the problem and YOU have created the behavior problems
of your animals. No one is blaming your dog. It is YOU we are blaming because
YOU are the responsible party.

2. Train your hounds of hell not to bark without proper emergency stimulus. Below
are useful websites for basic instruction.

3. Buy a no-bark electronic device, collar, or muzzle and use it.

4. Hire dogsitters or take the belligerent, spoiled, (or) abused dogs to doggie
day care rather than leaving them alone.

5. Lock the dogs in the house, close the curtains so they are not sensitive to light
and movement, and sound proof the walls.

6. Do not add another dog. It's ignorant to assume two dogs won't cause twice
the noise. Dogs have been conditioned to rely on humans for companionship, not
each other.

7. Do not respond to bark-harassed victims who ask for your help with any of
these comments:

* The dogs are good for security. (Dogs are not good for security. Over five
million dogs are stolen each year and those are the ones reported. Others are killed.
How can a dog be an effective security device if it can't even protect itself? Barking
noise camouflages vandalism noise and creates a distraction advantageous to criminal
activity. Neighbors forced to call the police because your dog is a nuisance detracts
police away from other criminal activity. Electronic security devices are much more
effective, cost efficient and less work than a dog. A chronic barking dog creates a
safety issue for surrounding homes in the neighborhood. Barking when there is no
security risk present is like calling 911 for fun and that is illegal.)

* My dogs don't bark any more than other neighborhood dogs. (You are
responsible for your own dog, not every other neighborhood dog. It's junior high
immaturity to blame someone else for your own bad behavior.)

* If [factory, industry, airplanes, construction, church bells (!)...] can be noisy,
so can my dogs. (Car alarms are not allowed to go off continuously or intermittently,
neither should your dog. Car horns aren't allowed to blare all day long disturbing the
peace, so why should your dog? Construction is temporary. If you don't like traffic,
airplanes or industry noise then support "Quiet Communities Act HR2895", but your
dog noise isn't allowed to contribute to the already overwhelming noise of modern
society.)

* My dogs have to bark, they can't be trained. (Your dogs can be barked
trained if you would take the time and make the effort. A useful dog is one that barks
to signal an emergency rather than barking constantly for no reason other than boredom.
Play barking for recreation or communication may be monitored and controlled with
your guidance, attention and effort at appropriate times in appropriate places. Bark
training will help the dog understand when it is acceptable to bark. Search the websites
listed below for tips or hire a dog trainer.)

* Barking is what dogs do. (Barking is what dogs do when they need attention or
are being neglected or abused. You have conditioned, trained and encouraged your
dog to bark and YOU are responsible for this behavior. When you leave them alone
for long periods of time, don't train or socialize them so they feel secure and/or don't
care for them properly, they are vocalizing their boredom, nervousness, anger,
frustration or pain. If you do not have the time, patience or intelligence to care for
your dog properly, give it to someone who does.)

* You are stalking/harassing us. (We are not stalking or harassing you - we are
asking for your cooperation and would like you to stop harassing and assaulting us
with your noise. Your paranoia assumes we care about your life outside your
anti-social behavior. We don't.)

8. Understand most barking victims are not stupid enough to believe your ridiculous
arguments. We all hear the same excuses.

9. Get psychological counseling. Your obvious sociopathic behaviors, paranoia
and anger management issues have gone unchecked long enough and need to be
monitored.

Noise Nuisance Laws:

The first thing you need to do is obtain copies of your local nuisance ordinances.
Read them carefully and assess wording for loopholes. Here are a few red flags to
watch for that indicate lack of law enforcement and a desire to avoid the issues:

*Multiple neighbor requirements - the ordinance expects a minimum of two or
three people of different households to collaborate and file individual complaints.
This can also be worded as "...any sound which can disturb reasonable persons...".
See the plural? This is a requirement of more than one person. Now how many
people want to get involved with an aggressive dog owner with a pitbull?
Rottweiler? Doberman? Or any dog showing aggressive behavior including
barking? Most dog assault victims are by nature easy going, not wanting
to rock the boat, nor wanting to create bad feelings among people they live
near. Do you want to go out and round up support for the next neighborhood
war? You'd end up as popular as the bad dog owners. What about proximity?
The person living ten feet away from the barking dog will be clearly more disturbed
than those one hundred feet away. This is a loophole designed to shut down your
every effort at safety, peace and quiet.

**Personal contact or mediation with bad dog owner - Yes, you are expected
to walk through their dog-infested property and knock on their door so they
can scream and verbally abuse you. Bad dog owners have been know to sic
their vicious dogs on complainants and in some cases, have become so enraged
they have shot or killed the complainant. Is there a reason law enforcement cannot
do its job? Mediation, on the other hand, is you required to sit with a criminal who
uses his/her property (dog) as an assault weapon clearly demonstrating anti-social
and aggressive behavior. You are expect to reason with him or her. Would this be
required in a murder case? Rape? Vandalism? Burglury? Any other kind of assault?

**Minute requirements - the ordinance requires the dog to bark continuously for
10, 20 or 30 minutes. First, what does the word "continuously" mean to a defense
attorney? Probably "no breathing." Dogs by nature bark in patterns and every dog
is different. Some will bark with natural breathing stops and others will bark
intermittently all day long. Both are equally detrimental to the well-being of the
victim. More importantly, if the dog barks for 9 minutes straight and takes a 10
second rest, time starts over. This is all-day barking. Multiply that by the number
of dogs in your vicinity. Barking is then legally allowed 24/7.

**Vague vocabulary - "reasonable", "disturbing". These words are constantly
fought in Superior Court as unconstitutional as each person's definition may be
different. Have them replaced with more specific phrasing "noise loud enough
to be heard off the owner's property" or "more than two barking episodes per
day". These standards can be easily quantified and witnessed by law enforcement
officers.

Ideal nuisance model:

1.) Education as prevention. How many dog owners know the nuisance
ordinances? Prior to licensing, all dog owners should be expected to know
and understand the local laws regarding their animals. This should be a signed
document usable in a court of law.

2.) Proper licensing with mandatory spay/neutering, vaccinations, health
certificates, and microchipping requirements.

3.) Clear, easily understood, written nuisance law with single person disturbance
reference and no minute requirements.

4.) Clear protocol for terms of enforcement including law enforcement investigation
and officer witnessing procedures, citation scale for first, second and third offenses,
impoundment procedures, and repeat offender consequences. Dog logs are to be
kept by the complaintant only if officers are unable to witness the dog(s) barking.

5.) The system should be structured to pay for itself with offenders paying fines
comparable to costs of managing the entire system from preventative education to
impoundment and euthanization.