Every Dog Must Have His Day

in court that is! Last November a renter moved in to a house diagonally from us. We have no alleys so our back yards are only a fence apart. This man brought a six month old German Shepherd puppy with him.He put the dog in the back yard and promptly forgot about him. The dog barked all the time!He barked for hours during the day and until 3 or 4 in the morning,5 out of the 7 days, every week. February came and he is now bigger, has a louder bark, and is still barking the night and day away. We visited with our neighbor on several occasions and his response was he wanted his dog to bark. Animal Control came out, gave him 2 citations, my neighbors and myself filed complaints with the city. His response was he would keep paying fines and letting his dog bark. The case finally came to trial yesterday, and in this town, a barking dog is considered a nuisance and a criminal offense. I testified, animal control testified, our neighbor testified, and the dog owner had his say. The judge ruled he was guilty on 8 counts and his fine was $1250. The dog owner starts whining he can't afford that, he will give the dog away in lieu of the fine. No deal says the judge, he did reduce the fine to a mere $800 but if he doesn't keep the dog quiet,next time he will get to visit jail plus a fine. Moral, try to get along with your neighbors and keep your dog from barking 5-6 hours a day.