The Doggie Double Standard

Here in Tucson, you can have your rockin' loud party busted by the police. And you'll probably be looking at hundreds of dollars in fines.

But, as the late night infomercial says, that's not all. You'll also have to display a bright orange tag on the front of your house for six months. If you remove the tag before those six months are up, you'll get another fine.

Want to torture your neighbors with impunity? Don't bother with the party. Just leave your barking dog outside. If there's a neighbor complaint, you'll get a Sternly Worded Letter from animal control. And you'll get the chance to strut your BS in an optional mediation session with your neighbor.

Sound like fun? It sure is! You and your neighbor get to take time out of your busy schedules so that you can explain why you're incapable of controlling your dog's noise.

If mediation fails (as it often does), or if your neighbor isn't interested in mediating (why bother with such a pointless exercise?), the neighbor can request an barking log from animal control. How cool is that?

Every time your neighbor has his house filled with your dog's barking, he gets to record it in his official animal control log. Wow! And then he can turn it in to animal control. If animal control thinks that your neighbor has suffered enough, there's a hearing.

Uh-oh! You could get fined!

Notice a double standard? I sure do!

If I were to stand out in my yard and yell for several hours, I'd be arrested. So would you.

Which begs the question: If human noise gets immediate attention from the police, why doesn't barking dog noise? Must be due to the Doggie Double Standard.

The Department of Shameless Self-Promotion. Start spreading the news! Barking is becoming as unfashionable as secondhand smoke. And you can become a peace and quiet fashionista at my QuietBarkingDogs store.

Barking News Roundup - July 30, 2014

New law gives county teeth to stop barking dogs

Excerpt: “I can’t talk on my property. I can’t blow my nose. I can’t open an outside gate,” [the bark-bedeviled man] told Clackamas County commissioners. “I can’t stand out there and water my own backyard.”

Why not? Because, according to him, each time he does, two neighboring dogs start barking incessantly.

Dog owner fears court over barking noise complaints

Excerpt: [The clueless dog owner] was served with an abatement notice ordering her to take action to stop the nuisance barking earlier in the year, but as the complaints continued council staff visited the property next-door on three occasions in May and have compiled a report noting on the noise sending neighbours barking mad.

I rarely hear a barking dog in the UAE and long may that situation continue

Excerpt: In my old house in East London, my next door neighbour had a Jack Russell, which not only yapped at all hours of the day and night, disturbing my sleep, but burrowed under the garden fence and used my lawn as a toilet. The response from the dog owner was not repeatable.

Dispute over barking dog ends in assault, arrest

Excerpt: “The defendant said that the dog constantly barks at him and he is tired of it,” according to the documents.

The Department of Shameless Self-Promotion. Fed up with barking dog noise? Well, head over to my QuietBarkingDogs store. It has tee shirts and bumper stickers that quietly and firmly get our point across.

This Month's Barking News Roundup - 4/18/14

As we head into Easter Weekend, I'd like to dedicate this post to my boneheaded neighbors. The ones who made a certain Easter morning unforgettable by letting their yappy little noise-bomber out at 4:45 a.m. To this day, I remain baffled as to how you could have slept through the racket. I sure didn't.

From the "Well, duh!" department, we have this news story:

Barking dogs can take bite out of neighborly relationships

Then there's the case of the apologizing dog owner. But the dogs are still barking...

Dog owner apologizes for barking complaints

Unfortunately, the battle against barking can take decades. Look at this guy's story:

The lone howling of a crusader against dog barking

Unlike the barking dogs, the trains are doing something useful...

Haverstraw woman lives by tracks, but it's the barking she can't stand

The Department of Shameless Self-Promotion. Had enough? Make a point without making a sound with tee shirts and bumper stickers from the QuietBarkingDogs store.

This Month's Barking News Roundup - 2/28/14

Woman takes court action over ‘barking’ dogs

Excerpt: [The judge] said he accepted the evidence of [the plaintiff] saying: “It is unacceptable to have to live with constant and incessant barking”.

Thank you, Your Honor, for respecting the plaintiff's right to the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of her living space. Perhaps the Dog Owner Entitlement Mentality is starting to recede.

Bluefield, Va., Town Council looks at revamping barking dog ordinance

Excerpt: The town has had issues in the past when people are not controlling their dogs. Instead of urging residents to speak between themselves, the revised ordinance would call on them to contact the town or the police.

Hold the phone! Here's a jurisdiction that has realized how futile the "talk to your dog-owning neighbor" approach really is. People have been killed for doing that.

Barking dogs frustrate Clark County neighbors

Excerpt: “Clark County Animal Control will not enforce the law,” [the bark-beleagured neighbor] said, even though the noise seems to break nuisance and noise violation laws.

That's why so many of us think that Animal Control is an oxymoron. Run by morons.

Barking dog leads to Deadwood drug bust

Excerpt: The dog was left last Saturday night... and barked for three hours before guest complaints led to a call to Deadwood police, according to court documents.

Which confirms what a lot of us have suspected for years: The owners of barking dogs aren't the most law-abiding of people.

The Department of Shameless Self-Promotion. If the Dog Owner Entitlement Mentality is getting on your nerves, head over to the QuietBarkingDogs store.  Plenty of clothing and bumper stickers that quietly make our viewpoint known.

This Month's Barking News Roundup - 1/22/14

From the Teaching Dogs to Tell Time Department, we have these two news items:

In canine crackdown, Assembly takes aim at barking dogs

Five-minute time limit on barking outbursts in Anchorage, Alaska. But the Hawaiian Island of Kauai's government says that 10 minutes is enough. Has anyone ever taught a dog to tell time?

From the Fed-up File, we have:

1. Woman stabbed over barking dog at Lackland AFB
2. Barking chihuahuas cause concern for Lebanon resident

And how about some long-awaited relief? Here ya go:

Judge bars Island family from keeping howling, barking dogs

The Department of Shameless Self-Promotion. Had enough of this malarkey? Silently express your feelings with the clothing and bumper stickers at the QuietBarkingDogs store.