Does an ordinance targeting barking dogs have any bite? Viewers asked us to find out.
Washington County Tennessee Commissioners passed the ordinance in February 2010. People whose dogs are deemed a nuisance first get warnings. If the non-stop barking continues they then receive a series of fines from $10 to $100 and if it's still a problem the courts get involved.
Since the law's creation, animal control says it has issued 93 warnings, about 70 fines, and taken three people to court.
Barking dogs aren't the only ones making noise in Washington County.
"They are hounds of some sort,” said Sue Saeur a concerned citizen.
Frustrated homeowners like Sauer are making their voices heard too.
"At maybe one o'clock, two, three four in the morning they start barking, they may bark for several hours, you can't sleep,” said Sauer.
Sauer called animal control about a nuisance in her neighborhood...several dogs that can't seem to stay quiet.
“At night when we're trying to watch television we have to turn the volume from like 22 to 34 so we can hear our own television in our own house, that's a problem,” said Sauer.
"There's been a lot of complaints, some of them are legitimate, some of them are not,” said Wayne Thomas an animal control officer.
Animal control officer Thomas said in the last two years the county's new barking dog ordinance has kept them busy.
“Do you think this is making a difference,” said Thomas. “Yeah, I do, especially in your country subdivisions where homes are relatively close."
"With four or five, six months with no sleep or little sleep, interrupted sleep, it isn't a good situation,” said Sauer.
Despite fines for Sauer's neighbor she said he still hasn't got the message.
"The situation will die down for maybe one, two days, after that, it's right back it again,” said Saeur.
She's not giving up. She'll keep calling Animal Control Until the problem is fixed.
"When people start catching on that it has serious repercussions then they are going to start controlling their animals,” said Thomas.
Officers say they need the public's help with this ordinance. After all, they rely on complaints. Before you make a complaint, they ask that you keep a diary of exactly when a dog barks and for how long.
To keep you dog quiet officers recommend muzzling the dog for five minutes at a time until the dog learns to stop barking, squirting the animal with water until he or she gets the message or using a shock collar.
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