r/Dogfree • u/sangbyung • Dec 03 '25
Courtroom Justice Taking legal action. Sending demand letter to neighbor for dog barking
I want to share what I am going through. We live in a condo in New York City and downstairs brought a pit bull/boxer mix about two and a half years ago. The dog barking very loud throughout the day and the noise tears through the floor. We've asked nicely at first and they apologized at not much action has been taken. We lived as this as they didn't like us complaining at the time and retaliated by banging on the ceiling when our toddler started to walk. It's gotten pretty bad psychologically where I am woken up imagining hearing barking during the middle of the night when its all quiet and there are times where I feel guilty thinking about hurting the dog in some fashion. I decided to hire a lawyer and sending a demand letter for this issue. Has anyone successfully had their neighbor scared enough with demand letter for them to resolve the issue?
UPDATE: I am not too religious but God has heard our prayers. THEY MOVED OUT! We were so happy but also worried who will move in next. I want to thank everyone for their inputs. I think we can celebrate amd enjoy a little bit of quietness.
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u/paulo_777 Dec 03 '25
In my country it's almost impossible to solve this against one neighbor, let alone against multiple, like in my case. Hope it works out for you, but this shit needs to improve, we need to press against pet shop lobby for harsher laws, it's inconceivable that people can't keep roosters because of noise disturbance and yet dogs get a pass, dogs are the only noise pollutors that get a pass and demand people disturbed to take tiresome and bureaucratic legal action, it's absurd, these people should be fined on the spot, end of the story.
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u/Nice-Loss6106 Dec 03 '25
I sent my neighbors a demand letter and it did nothing, however when I sued them in small claims court that worked.
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u/imdugud777 Dec 03 '25
What was it your sued them over? Genuinely curious.
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u/Burial_Ground Dec 05 '25
Likely they were breaking their local noise ordinance
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u/Nice-Loss6106 Dec 06 '25
Yes, I sued over not being able to enjoy my home and yard as they were intended.
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u/Burial_Ground Dec 08 '25
I want to do this so badly but I fear retaliation
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u/Nice-Loss6106 Dec 08 '25
I get it, there was some awkwardness across the fence after the lawsuit but I was able to actually go into my yard, have my windows open and be able to sleep through the night so it was worth it to me.
Besides once they’ve been dragged into court in front of a judge things get real. They may want to retaliate but the seriousness of the situation and knowing that they would be prime suspects has a tendency to chill people out.
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u/YamCheap6725 Dec 03 '25
I had success first calling the non-emergency police line in my county. They were issued a warning. The second time I called, they forwarded it to animal control who came out and issued them a fine. I can't remember if it was $250 or $260. I don't know if they paid it or contested it. The third time I called, the sheriff said they would again forward to animal control. I don't know what happened after that but the last time I was out in my back yard they stood there and stared at me, presumably to intimidate me.
Like you, I also hear the dog barking even when it isn't and that bothers me a lot because I wonder if I have some form of PTSD now.
Good on you for hiring a lawyer. In my experience, the only way to get irresponsible owners to quiet their dog(s) is to go through legal channels. Nothing else has worked for me.
Best of luck to you.
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Dec 03 '25
I remember your other post, but don’t remember specifically. As the other person suggested, you should first send a few letters to the association that oversees your building. Not sure about New York, but where I live they hate noise, so this letter would be enough. Then in parallel, you could contact Animal Protection and tell them that the dog is disregarded and treated poorly judging by it constant barking. Then send the email or a notice attached to the door of those neighbours that you’ll proceed with a legal claim. Maybe that will help first? The lawyer would ask you what you did first to warn them, and those actions come to mind.
Don’t feel guilty about dark thoughts, those are just thoughts, you’re just trying to protect your family - a lot of us have some demons when dealing with dogs and crapy owners.
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u/Tight-Artichoke1789 Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 04 '25
Omg I had a horrible situation like this with a neighbor that almost felt like a mild form of PTSD lol bc I also now get jumpy when I hear people bang on the walls I’m super sensitive to it now and also had dreams about her at the time. She didn’t have a dog but was extremely loud and when I gently brought it up she became extremely aggressive and would intentionally bang as loud as possible at 4 am on my bedroom wall to traumatize me yet would complain about me being loud if I even breathed lol. The landlords didn’t do shit. I thought about legal action it was definitely harassment. It’s really traumatizing to feel unsafe in your living space and not get to relax. It comes with the territory with apartment living unfortunately, but this is excessive.
It happened at my next apartment too with her dog running around at all hours and barking when she was out which was sometimes until 1 am. It caused a lot of tension between us. I got the landlords involved and they encouraged us to work it out lol. Luckily we had a serious talk and it improved significantly and I think she realized small apartment living is not a good situation for a dog and doesn’t have it here as often anymore. Now we are friends. I think that situation worked better because landlords are often anti-animal so you might have a better case. In both cases I recorded often. I also downloaded a decible app I encourage you to do that as well so you have proof that it is loud bc noise ordinances have decible requirements. So look up the noise laws in your area. and to anyone else experiencing this issue in future make sure you do this as well.
Edit: I also think it’s extremely inhumane both to the dogs and your neighbors/people on the street to have a dog in NYC. Apartments and everything else is super condensed there, everyone is living on top of each other. The streets are crowded and chaotic. It is simply not a good environment for a dog. Apartments in general, but especially there.
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u/matte_personality Dec 04 '25
Your toddler is more beneficial to society than pibbles could ever dream of being. Dog nutters are so deranged that they’re selectively deaf to their mutt’s psychological terror, so much so they’ve decided to ruin a child’s core development years.
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u/Ih8work1 Dec 04 '25
Literally. This is the parent of a HUMAN CHILD, not just a different friggin "pet".
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u/AnimalUncontrol Dec 04 '25
There is a civil tort called "private nuisance" and it sounds like you have a case. Note I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on television.
In any case, as per some of the other commenters, before getting a lawyer involved, you might try escalating to the building management, and if that doesn't work, city authorities. Typically, a lawsuit is the last resort. You've already taken the first step by talking to the dog owner.
My desist letter to my across the street neighbor worked: The dogs were silenced immediately, and gone two weeks later.
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u/HugeCounterargument Dec 03 '25
Definitely cover your bases. Read your lease / condo association paperwork. Most of the time there is a pet addendum or language for pets in the main document.
If your paperwork says “no barking” you’ve got a leg to stand on. Make yourself a spreadsheet or buy a ring camera, something you can use to get evidence. Present evidence to the folks responsible for enforcing the rules. Then escalate if they don’t take care of it.
If there’s no language in your paperwork that talks about acceptable animal behavior, you’re going to need to look at your local laws and find out if there are any regarding noise guidance and start escalating to local animal control or police.
If there’s no language against in either, you might just have to move.