We received this in our mailbox today.
Background: My husband sits on the back porch with our dog for an hour each night (around 7:00 PM). He does bark as people walk by, but it’s during the time most people wouldn’t be bothered. Pippin is NEVER left outside. He sits inside with me.
So this is what our anonymous neighbor sent:
The city has an animal noise ordinance. Sec. 5-21 states: “It shall be considered unlawful and a public nuisance to keep any animals which, by causing frequent or long continued barking or noise shall disturb any persons of ordinary sensibilities in the vicinities.”
You leave your barking dog out to yap at every car that goes by. And you just sit out there watching it bark. Regardless, there is an Ordinance. My next step is to lodge a formal complaint with the city, after which you will begin to receive citations and fines, increasing each time I submit a complaint. Your dog–your problem.
An angry neighbor.
******
I’m back.
Here’s the thing. Are we so litigious these days that we can’t walk over to someone’s house and say, “Hey, it bugs me when your dog barks. Let’s talk about this.” Instead we have to threaten? Anonymously?
If we had a dog who stayed outside all day and night that barked incessantly, this would make sense to me. But it doesn’t. And having a “neighbor” go at this in this manner just makes me sad and frustrated. To put an anonymous note in my mailbox is cowardly and mean spirited.
If my neighbor is reading this: Why can’t we simply talk about this over the fence?
Related posts:
