Barking dogs, either day or night, is bothersome – and is the number one complaint received by animal control agencies around the country.
Dogs bark for a variety of reasons with the most common being boredom and isolation. Many owners may not know that letting their dog bark continuously is against the law. Most cities have ordinances regarding dogs barking and Humane Animal Services is responsible for enforcing those ordinances within our contract cities.
Dealing With The Noisy Animal
There are things a person can do to stop their dogs from continuous barking and disturbing their neighbors. The very first thing that needs to happen is the dog owner must be told about the problem. The best way to handle the situation is to calmly talk with your neighbor and let them know about the problem and give them a change to correct the problem.
An easy solution for many owners is to leave the dog inside the house. This way the dog isn’t so isolated and less likely to respond with barking at people walking by, birds and squirrels.
Resources are available to owners to help them with pet behavior. These include books, obedience classes and professional dog trainers.
If you’re unsuccessful in resolving the problem, contact H.A.S – providing the address where the dog is located, when the dog is barking and other details that may be helpful. As a courtesy, H.A.S. will dispatch an Officer to speak with the responsible pet owner.
What to do is the problem continues –
After the initial contact by a H.A.S. Officer, the problem continues, you will need to request a Petition for Abatement of Animal as a Public Nuisance.
Once you have the petition in hand:
• A minimum of three (3) signatures from different residences.
• A two (2) week noise log from each person that signed the petition.
When the Petition is returned a H.A.S. Officer will issue the owner a seven (7) Day Animal Abatement Notice (Written Warning). The owner has seven (7) days to correct the problem. After seven (7) days, if the animal nuisance is still a problem, the matter will be referred to the Hearing Officer for that city.
The Hearing Officer will schedule a hearing and everyone involved in the Petition will be requested to attend. The Officer will determine if the animal is deemed a nuisance or not.