Barking Dogs, Illegal Kennel
During open window season of each year, my life comes unglued because the barking dogs of a neighbor keep me awake. I’m writing this at 5 am and have been awake since 2. It happens a lot. The “neighbor” lives on the street behind us and keeps from one to five “pit bull” type dogs…
During open window season of each year, my life comes unglued because the barking dogs of a neighbor keep me awake. I’m writing this at 5 am and have been awake since 2. It happens a lot.
The “neighbor” lives on the street behind us and keeps from one to five “pit bull” type dogs in a very small chain-link enclosure at the back of their property. The dogs are out there 24/7, 365 days a year. He feeds them pretty regularly, therefore the ASPCA isn’t much interested in the case. Calling 311 and waiting for DEP inspectors is a major waste of time. The dogs never bark when the inspectors are here. The dogs owner/keeper seems really mean, and screams at the dogs every day. I have no idea why he keeps them, the food must cost a lot, and there certainly doesn’t seem to be any love there. I cannot open my windows. I can’t spend time or entertain in my lovely garden. I use the bedroom AC at night even when it isn’t hot, just to drown out the barking, but it’s not always effective. They’re loud! I don’t want to confront the guy, he seems like a jerk who might cause worse problems if provoked. Dozens of people around here must be affected by this problem, but almost never does anyone holler or make a fuss. I hope I don’t lose my tenant upstairs over this, but she’s getting fed up. The community liason officer at the local precinct says he’ll look into it when I see him in person, but never does, and my phone calls go unanswered.
What recourse do I have? I need ideas, or an understanding of the legal aspects. Please don’t suggest that I bring harm to the dogs; it’s really not their fault.
Thanks.
Since all of your efforts to deal with this by proxy – ASPCA, NYPD, 311, DEP – have been unsuccessful, one option you have left is mediation.
There is no cost, so really you don’t lose anything by trying. Your local mediation center would even do the work of contacting your neighbor.
Then you would both be invited into the center for a conversation about the noise from the dogs, focusing on mutually-agreeable ways for the situation to be changed.
You never know…it just might help!
http://www.safehorizon.org/mediation
OP, after reading all of this – and that one has almost no recourse with dogs, barking dogs, etc., I’d guess that one may need to do some investigation of the man who owns, and breeds (and sells?) them. See if you can find out who or what types of people he is selling to. Perhaps hire a private investigator if police won’t or don’t have time to help. I agree with talking to all neighbors you can, and forming some kind of united front. Warn them that they may be in real danger and the barking may only be the tip of an iceberg in this case. (I said *may* be.) Clearly the neighbors would not want to be in the path of something more dangerous and sinister than the noise pollution of barking, such as physical danger to themselves or their children.
Good luck! I know from experience also, that uniting the neighbors is no easy task. It takes time and patience when you’d rather be doing something you enjoy. It is easier to think that the problem may go away. But once you approach some neighbors you may find you have some unexpected valuable experiences.
ie, to repeat: see what you can do about criminal activities of the people, not the dogs, because commenters here have said the latter does no good.
Police do know however about trained guard dogs for crack houses. Thieves go in for a stash, shoot the attack dog first then maybe shoot the people to get their stash. I know, this sounds blecchh! but it happens.
I’ve been in animal rescue for many years and can tell you that Animal Control in NYC has NO jurisdiction. The police must call upon them for removal of an animal. Otherwise, the police bring the dogs to the shelter. The ASPCA can investigate – Animal Control refers cases to the ASPCA or police.
To contact Rescue Ink, you can visit the website at http://www.rescueink.org
There is a hotline as well as an email. helpme@rescueink.com
Hope this helps.
Rescue Ink seems to be quite adept at marketing themselves here but totally lacking in any feedback or response to the actual problem.
If one of the dogs killed another on the block, isn’t that reason enough for animal control to remove at least that one dog and start investigating the situation?
OP: >> jellystew, you’re two crosstown blocks away. These dogs are loud but not THAT loud.
I think the Diane Whipple story and the one about the 90 year old man in S.I. that was mauled in his own back yard and died could be instrumental here, though not sure exactly how. But this one dog, having mauled another to death, is not just any dog. It has to have been trained to attack, no?
Thank you for your support and kind comments about Rescue Ink. As you are aware, Rescue Ink became an international force through our reality TV show “Rescue Ink Unleashedâ€, which ran domestically on National Geographic and is currently running internationally in 160 countries promoting our core mission of stopping abuse and neglect through education and intervention.
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OP – Commodore, I decided to do a little Google search after posting previously about dog-mauling victim, Diane Whipple.
One mention of the prisoner and his bizarre relationship to the lawyers is that he “was raising the dogs as weapons to be used by the Mexican Mafia.” If you have seen any PBS specials lately, you may have an idea of the brutality the Mex Mafia is capable of in N. Calif, protecting their drug interests ie marijuana fields and meth deals.
The story got deeper and uglier, unimaginable. I hope you don’t have anything such as that near you.
http://news.lavenderliberal.com/2008/09/22/thank-you-judge-woolard-for-keeping-marjorie-knoller-off-the-streets-thank-you/
OP, some commenters have mentioned dog-fighting. I was thinking more about people who raise dogs for crack houses. Do you remember a case where a San Francisco woman (Diane Whipple) was killed in her hallway? The dog owners, both lawyers, had shady relationships with some prison inmates, and the reasons for the dogs were also shady.
In any case, people who train dogs to kill are meaner than dogs, so yes one wants to be cautious. OP, consider researching the so-called “crack house law” and nuisance abatement.
If this sounds harsh it is because someone we know personally was involved in a horrific scene that I won’t go into here.