Friday, September 19, 2008

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.

6 comments:

Lily said...

man, what a nutcase! good for you for following through. Unfortunatly, this guy sounds like a jerk and you are stuck with him in your neighborhood. I bet you will have more problems with him over other matters. Seems he just has to be right no matter waht the cost.

ScrapAddict said...

No reason to be a bad neighbor unless you are an ......well, you know. God bless the poor dog. Hope he finds a better owner.

Catherine said...

Well, at least you were able to get it taken care of. I'm still scratching my head about him "wanting the dog to bark" ???

Karen Lambert said...

How sad for the poor dog. What kind of jerk, lets a dog out in the Texas heat, barking all day? Doesn't he know the dog only barks because he wants attention or needs something. When a dog barks that much it isn't barking to protect his property, it is trying to say HELP ME!! Someone needs to stick that man in his backyard for a couple of days and see how he likes it.
Sorry you have to have a nutcase like that living in your neighborhood. Good for you in standing up for what is right.

Melanie said...

Oh man--nutcase and jerk are right! I can't believe that guy! I feel sorry for his dog, too!

Marie said...

Hopefully he will find a BETTER owner for that poor dog. Glad you finally got that taken care of. I'm sure it finally got his attention that he can't just get a dog and forget about him!