Tired of incessant yapping of your neighbor's dog? Well, the city of Los Angeles is on your side: they've decided to levy fines on the owners of dogs that bark excessively (and if that doesn't make 'em silence those pooches fast, I don't know what will).
Under the changes, dog owners would face fines starting at $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second and $1,000 for a third if a hearing conducted by the Department of Animal Services determines that a dog barks too much.
But exactly how much barking is too much?
The changes approved in the 12-0 vote would make that clearer to animal services officials, Assistant City Atty. Dov Lesel said.
A dog's barking would be considered excessive if it continued for 10 minutes or more, or intermittently for 30 minutes or more within a three-hour period, Lesel said.
I sympathize with those harrassed by barking dogs (one of my neighbor has a dog that barked all night for years) but ask any dog owner and they'll tell you that dogs are dogs and they will bark. Sometimes they bark a lot, especially if something unusual is up. And what happens if you're not there to silence your dog, say if you have to work and the dog is in the back yard?
Will the new rule penalize those in working-class neighborhood, who keep dogs for protection against break-ins? Or will it finally give peace to sore ears?
I'd pay between 10% and 25% more to live in a community that didn't allow dogs or outdoor cats.
Everywhere I've lived, there's been a neighbor who thinks it's a good idea to get a noisy, undisciplined dog.
The family behind me got an Akita that would constantly bark whenever anyone was outside. It was literally non-stop barking when the kids went out, when I used the grill, or when I mowed the lawn. "Fortunately" they got divorced and the wife took the dog.
The family that recently moved in next to me has three large dogs and two outdoor cats. The cats have been crapping in my flowerbeds ever since I added sand and other additives to improve the hard clay soil. Two of the dogs only poop along the fence nearest my house. The stench of feces can get truly awful during midsummer and I have to mention it to them on a regular basis, and that only gets the dog crap cleaned up for a day or two. Liberal application of animal repellent that claims to work for dogs and cats hasn't worked so far.
On second thought, I'm SURE I'd pay 10-25% more to live in a "pets prohibited" community.
Take your dog to a park, during the day, and play with it there. Problem solved. If you don't have time to do that, because you work, etc...? Don't own a dog. You don't deserve one. You have to MAKE time OUTSIDE of your home to go take a dog to play so it can bark its jack@$$ head off.
And if there are babies crying, its because they need 1 of 3 things, same as a dog. Potty, Food, Sleep. Not too hard.
People seriously need to use logic, and stop being [deleted].
Until he got 2 more dogs who kept pooping on my land because his 10 acres weren't good enough. They followed me into the garage one day so I called animal control. The dogs were gone for 2 weeks and the guy had a hefty fine. No more dogs on my lawn.