Posted on 06/28/2009 11:23:15 AM PDT by Chet 99
NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- A North Attleboro man was ordered to find a new home for his German shepherd this week following dozens of complaints about the animal’s noisy barking.
Town selectmen voted unanimously Thursday to give the dog the boot after receiving complaints from neighbors who live near 28 Smith St. for four years. The dog’s owner, Eduardo Perez, was given 10 days to find a new home for the animal outside of North Attleboro or surrender it to an animal shelter.
Perez told the Sun Chronicle of Attleboro that he plans to appeal the decision in court.
Neighbors have filed 27 complaints about the dog since 2005, according to Animal Control Officer Karen Fontneau, who told the paper that she has visited the property 50 times for follow-up calls. Neighbors told Fontneau that Perez, the landlord, has not lived in the building for at least a year, and that residents feed the dog and bring it inside at night through an arrangement with Perez.
"You can't sit on the back deck without hearing the dog,” said Ken Brissette, who said the animal barks for hours into the night. "I've got no problems with the dog, except I don't want to listen to it."
Perez, however, characterized the dog as a “family” pet that only barks once in a while. He said the late-night howling has been prompted by a neighborhood youth who taunts the dog by holding a cat over the fence.
"One of my neighbors is instigating Lucy with a cat," he told the Sun Chronicle. "I don't see Lucy as a pet that's dangerous to the neighborhood. It's just the opposite -- she enjoys playing with children."
Fontneau previously recommended that Perez use a bark collar on the animal, but she said the dog started barking again once the battery in the device died.
"You don't give us a choice, other than to have the dog removed,” said Selectman Michael Thompson. “We've tried everything we can. You're not home; your family isn't home to care for the dog."
>“We’ve tried everything we can. You’re not home; your family isn’t home to care for the dog.”
So because the guy presumably has a job he cannot have a dog? What kind of reasoning is that?
I don’t guess she could have bought a new battery?
After being driven crazy by my meighbor's barking dogs, I used it with great success. I no longer have a problem.
I’ll take him, I love German Shepherds.
Nothing Elaine & Neeeeeeuman couldn’t handle, n’est pas?
Hundred dollar fine for a dog that barks continuously for more than 15 minutes after sundown. For each offense. Owners figure out real fast how to keep the dog quiet.
This is law where I am.
I’ve turned people in on this a few times. Two times the owners gave up and decided themselves the dog wasnt’ worth it. They got rid of their dog on their own.
Funny episode.
How does it work?
Looks like a sweet dog... poor thing is being severely neglected, which is why he is barking all the time. Idiot owner.
Funny how that works!
The subject of this story needs to keep his dog indoors if he cannot keep the dog quiet. The rest of the people do have a right to some measure of peace and quiet.
Massholes Ping!
When a large dog barks within 50 to 60 feet of this device it will respond by blasting the offending dog with a strong ultrasonic blast of 120 dB. Smaller dogs will need to be closer to active it. This blast can be effective for over 100 ft if placed in a line of sight to the dog and there is little or no foliage to buffer the sound waves, but the limiting factor is weather or not the microphone detects the dog's bark or not. This level of sound is about the noise level as if a fire truck were to pass by you as you stood preparing to cross a street.
The Super Bark Free device can be set so humans cannot hear it. The sound is emitted for a few seconds past the time the barking stops, and then resets itself waiting for the next bark. It can be set to allow 1,2,3 or 4 barks before it is set off. This allow a dog to bark a time or two before it is blasted. The Super Bark-Free is for outdoors use only it is too loud for indoors or containment use. It is weather resistance not water proof. Purchase a Super Bark Free Bird houses, Bird feeder or Dummy camera cases if you would like to make it totally rain and weather proof. It is powdered by four "D" size batteries (not included) or with an AC/DC adapter (sold separately).
You can expect several months per set of batteries. We offer a free 60-day trial and the manufacturer’s warranty is one years.
And it comes with a 60 day money back gaurantee!
Our family Shepherd lives in our home with our family as all dogs and cats should. They need love and attention or you should not have them.
I see.
Won’t work for all dogs. some dogs will bark even more with this thing blasting away. But it’s worth a try.
I talked with my neighbor and he tried the electric collars but with two dogs they made a game of chewing the collars off of each other. So I invested in this device and have had no problems since.
It sounds like the neighbor had a good case. I think if it got that bad, I would be buying loads of Hersey bars and feeding it to the dog every time the dog barked more than ten minutes. This is ridiculous and you trying to stick up for the rude dog owner is stunning.
27 times [for a complaint] in four year though... that’s not exactly indicative of a sense of urgency.
But my comment was on the city-official’s comment about him not being around... I should think that not being around would be a natural consequence of being a standard full-time employee. 8 hours a day away, that’s a third of the day, and completely ignoring travel-time and errands.
Hundred dollar fine for a dog that barks continuously for more than 15 minutes after sundown. For each offense. Owners figure out real fast how to keep the dog quiet.
This is law where I am.
I’ve turned people in on this a few times. Two times the owners gave up and decided themselves the dog wasnt’ worth it. They got rid of their dog on their own.
Tell me, are you a dog owner?
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