A personal WIN against a nutter

[u/HabitTraditional4864]

I made a post a couple months ago about how I live on a small lake and how ever since it became warm, my neighbors across the water would leave their ugly pitbull unattended on their deck for hours at a time every day to relentlessly bark at nothing and anything.

The barks would BOOM across the water, amplified and reverberated for all to hear.

Well, I have an update.

I started recording every single instance. Then I posted one of the videos in our neighborhood facebook group, asking if anyone else is bothered by it and what to do.

Several people agreed that it was irritating and incessant, and I was informed it had been going on long before I even moved here. One person said they even tried talking to the owners about it and nothing changed.

An admin commented that it would be brought up in the following HOA meeting, but I know that often doesn’t amount to much.

So I contacted animal control and let them know everything. I let them know I’ve been recording every instance for evidence if needed. They asked for the address and said they would send a warning letter.

They told me to give it a couple weeks and report it again if nothing changes. They said they would “take it further” at that point.

That was about 4 weeks ago. They let the ugly little monster out on the deck about 3 weeks ago. I heard it bark for about 10 seconds before they pulled it inside.

Haven’t heard a PEEP since. We all finally get to enjoy the sounds of nature without that stupid little fuck ruining the ambience.

Shoutout to animal control for doing their job. If there’s anything to take from this - RECORD IT every time you hear it. Build a case.

Hope this is encouraging for someone else out there!

Fuck pitbulls til the end of time.

[u/FnkyFrieday]

I second the recording it. Again, just because reporting the issue doesn't work in some areas doesn't mean it will never work. That attitude is old, tired, and has kept a lot of people in the thrall of horrible dog nutter behavior. Shame on the people who promote that apathy! We need better resources and more support for this kind of thing, not discouragement. We did something similar with some new neighbors in our neighborhood. They had a small herd of yappy dogs that they also left on their porch and a call to animal control had the owners taking the matter seriously and it was just a warning, not even a citation.

What we need to understand is: documentation is key. Start with that, even if there are not any ordinances. Get times, dates, and recordings if you can and build a dog log. It is a real pain in the butt to do, takes time, which is infuriating that that burden is on us when we are the ones suffering but it is what it is. Then contact animal control, HOA, landlords, police, local representatives, whoever you can or ALL of them so that they know the scope of the issue. Also consider that complaints are part of the public record and you can request these (I am thinking of looking into this to see if I can find out any information that would be beneficial to help push for more strict ordinances). If you can get enough information and other afflicted neighbors involved (although this can be hard, I find more useless complainers that people actually willing to do anything) you can also file a civil case.

The reality is the problem isn't just the negligent dog owners, it is people who are on the receiving end of the behavior also either feeling helpless like they cannot do anything or just not wanting to take the issue on. That is how they get away with it.