Jerry James’ cartoon (Sept. 6) could easily be of Los Osos also. When neighbors are confronted by reports of their dog barking endlessly, I have heard: “They don’t bark when I’m home.” “Hey, it’s just a dog. They bark.” “Get off my property.” And “Sorry, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
First off, a dog barking for six to eight hours a day while its owner is away is just wrong, no matter how you look at it. An owner who knowingly does nothing about it after being informed of the problem has a duty to do something about it. And to actually tell a neighbor to stop bothering them with threats to the bearer of the news is totally unacceptable. Just because there are other folks with dogs that bark doesn’t let anyone off the hook.
A dog barking can be a warning. Barking dogs have actually saved lives and property. But a dog barking endlessly for hours or all day or night is a nuisance. And it’s not the dogs fault, it’s actually the owner’s.
This article appears in Sep 13-20, 2012.