It’s time to check your local laws to see whether they address barking dogs.By
One of the most common sources of neighbor complaints and disputes is barking dogs. And, dogs being what they are, a simple request to the owner to control the problem might be of no help whatsoever.
If a barking dog problem in your neighborhood doesnt improve after your efforts to work something out, what should you do next?
Check State and Local Laws Concerning Barking Dogs
Its time to check your municipal, county, and state laws and regulations to see what your legal options are. Armed with this knowledge, youll be better prepared to approach your neighbor again or go to animal control authorities, the police, or a small claims court judge.
In some places, barking dogs are covered by a specific state or local ordinance. For example, Massachusetts law allows neighbors to make a formal complaint to the towns board of selectmen (city council) about a dog that is a nuisance because of “excessive barking.” (Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. Ch. 140, § 157.) The board holds a hearing and makes whatever order is necessary to stop the nuisance—including, in some cases, ordering the owner to get rid of the dog. (See Commonwealth v. Ferreri, 572 N.E.2d 585 (1991).)
Similarly, state law in Oregon declares any dog that disturbs someone with “frequent or prolonged noises” is a public nuisance. (Or. Rev. Stat. § 609.095.) The county investigates complaints.
Keeping a dog whose barking is a nuisance can even be considered a minor criminal offense. In 2006, a Pennsylvania judge sentenced a woman to ten days in jail because the noise from her five dogs was “torturing the neighbors.” He offered, however, to cancel the $300 fine and the jail sentence if she could find new homes for three of the dogs. (“As barking angers neighbor, law puts bite on dogs; owner,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, Oct. 13, 2006.)
If theres no law aimed specifically at dogs, a general nuisance or noise ordinance will make the owner responsible. State or local law might forbid loud noise after 10 p.m., for example, or prohibit any “unreasonable” noise. And someone who allows a dog to bark, after numerous warnings from police, can be arrested for disturbing the peace.
For instance, a Tennessee judge once imposed a fine of $6,200 on a man whose dogs—up to 19 of them, at times—disturbed his neighbors. The steep fine came after the dog owner said, in court, that he didnt care what the neighbors said. (“Court cites barking, bites man with fine,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, Apr. 13, 1996.).
To find out what the law is where you live, go online or to a law library and check the state statutes and city or county ordinances yourself. Look up “noise,” “dogs,” “animals,” or “nuisance.” You can probably also find out about local laws by calling the local animal control agency or city attorney.
Need a lawyer? Start here. Practice Area Zip Code
Legal Information & More from Nolo Real Estate
How do I get my neighbors dog to shut up?
Fortunately, there are some things you can do to make that pup clam up and get the peace and quiet you need without being a jerk.
DOG BARKING disturbing the peace
AS the old saying goes, good fences make good neighbors, but as I’ve found out, it’s more complicated than that. Is the fence on the right side of the property line? Are there any overhanging branches or roots sneaking under the fence? Is there a really annoying dog barking behind that fence?
I haven’t had any problems with my neighbors since back in college, when the upstairs tenants sounded, to my tortured ears, as if they engaged in Irish dancing while moving furniture.
The first morning in my new apartment? I could hear the couple, um, robustly enjoying themselves through the thin wall.
But I was young and a relatively mobile renter. For many people who own their apartments or houses or are similarly entrenched, moving isn’t an easy option.
But “neighbors really define your quality of life,” said Emily Doskow, a lawyer and co-author of “Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise” (1991, updated 2011, Nolo). A bad neighbor situation can be incredibly wearing and turn a domestic sanctuary into a battleground.
And with more people working from home, daytime neighborhood sounds that may once have gone unnoticed can now create enormous tension.
After conducting a completely informal survey, I found that barking dogs top the list of complaints, at least in suburban neighborhoods.
Craig Mixon said he was so bothered by the barking dogs in his Northern California neighborhood that he started a Web site, barkingdogs.net, to offer resources for people similarly plagued.
“I did everything possible,” he said. “I talked to the neighbors. I’m a master dog trainer, so I offered to train the dogs. I gathered data for months on end. Nothing worked.”
Regulations about barking dogs or other noise from neighbors vary according to town. In some cases, they are covered by noise laws, in others by nuisance laws.
A friend of mine, who asked that I use her middle name, Ruth, because she still lives next to the offending neighbor, found a once-friendly relationship torn apart by noisy dogs.
The dogs were put outside, sometimes all day, in a lawn surrounded by an invisible fence. Ruth and her husband tried complaining to the neighbors very gently, but to no avail.
One early morning — the barking often started at 6 a.m. — they called the neighbors to beg them to bring the dogs in, but the neighbors refused. When they were once again awakened by barking, Ruth’s husband walked over to the house next door and let the dogs in.
“He went ballistic,” she said. “But it wasn’t the right thing to do and we apologized.”
Apology not accepted. For five years, the neighbors refused to speak to my friend or her family. There’s been a recent thaw, but relations are still strained.
Like many people, my friend did call her town to see what could be done, but was told that noise laws applied from dusk to dawn, which may work in the winter, but not so well in the summer when days are long and nights are short. And she didn’t feel comfortable complaining because the town would take complaints only from people who gave their names.
Out of curiosity, I checked with our town of Mamaroneck, N.Y., to learn the laws on these issues. Animal control, it turns out, does not address neighbor’s disputes over barking dogs. The ordinance covers only licensing, what kind of animals you have (no swine allowed), leash requirements and the like.
While power tools and machinery are allowed on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. and on weekends and holidays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. — emergencies excepted — barking dogs would fall under the unnecessary noise regulation, said Stephen Altieri, the town administrator.
That regulation states that all noises that menace the health or disturb the peace and quiet of the town are prohibited any time of the day or night.
And there’s the rub. Reasonableness is in the ear of the beholder. Take the situation of my friend Amy, who, at 4 a.m. last winter in the middle of a snowstorm, received a phone call from a neighbor saying Amy’s snowplow service was too loud.
“I was flabbergasted,” Amy said. “Having grown up in Rochester, where the winters were severe, it was standard practice for snow plows to work throughout the night. If they wait too long, the snow gets too heavy to easily remove.”
Amy apologized, but the neighbor kept calling, so Amy asked her snow plow service to begin at 6 a.m. She e-mailed her neighbor, thinking she would receive a hearty thanks. Instead, the neighbor wanted her to wait until 9 a.m., which Amy thought was unfair.
“I have a sense of dread that she will be calling me in the middle of the night when we have our first snowstorm,” Amy said.
As the first step in any neighborly problem, Ms. Doskow suggests either nicely speaking to the neighbor or, if you don’t want to discuss it directly, leaving a pleasant note.
That may seem obvious, but “too many people escalate right away,” she said. “Try to give the neighbor the benefit of the doubt, even if it seems ridiculous. Try and assume everyone wants to be as good as you are.”
The second step would be a note or call saying, “I’d really like to work this out,” she said. “I wouldn’t get too heavy-handed, such as I’m going to call the police or animal control.”
Suggesting mediation is also an option, Ms. Doskow said. Community mediators are available in most towns, she said, and often the police know how to contact them.
Finally, if you still get no response, you may need to warn the neighbor that you will go to small claims court or seek redress elsewhere. The trouble is, even if you do report the problem, it’s often not easy to either prove it or get the authorities to resolve it.
“Some noise laws are distance-based and some are decibel-based,” said Les Blomberg, director of the nonprofit group Noise Pollution Clearinghouse. “Ideally, noise regulations should set a clear line for neighbors — this is allowed, this isn’t.” But often that isn’t the case.
And noise is not the only neighbor problem Ms. Doskow has seen. Parking is a big one.
“People think they own the curb in front of their house, and they get really mad if someone parks there,” she said. “In fact, there was a case where someone shot someone who parked in his spot one too many times.”
Even something as seemingly innocuous as trees can cause tension. If a branch from my tree is hanging over my neighbors’ lawn (and come to think of it, it is), they can cut it back to the property line. If your tree falls on a neighbor’s property, it’s an act of God and not your responsibility, unless you knew it was a sick tree and failed to do anything about it.
Of course, sometimes there are problems no one can foresee. Take the case of the Idaho man whose neighbors were concerned because he walked around in a black bunny costume — sometimes with a tutu.
The police spoke to the man, according to a recent news report. He was reasonable — he said he enjoyed wearing the bunny suit, but understood his neighbors’ concerns. No update on how the situation was resolved.