Submitted by MortaLPortaL t3_10o2cq9 in vermont
I have some shitty neighbors in Orleans that leave their dog outside and let it bark until 3-5 in the morning. Tried animal control to no avail. Is there anyone else I can talk to? I’ve gone beyond knocking on the door and asking.
Lots of towns are very hands-off about how people treat their animals, which can be unfortunate in cases like this. If nothing else works, you might be able to approach it from a noise complaint perspective.
Sounds like a neglect case. Are there animal welfare orgs in the area? I’d be more worried about the dog’s wellbeing. This bums me out.
Try the Central Vermont SCPA, if it’s actually neglect they’ll take action.
Pie in the sky positive assumptions approach:
Did you knock and ask? Its understandable if you havent yet or feel a bit intimidated about the prospect, but it seems the logical first step. Maybe, in spite of how stupid this may sound, they genuinely didn't realize the nuisance they are causing and they can rectify the situation without getting authorities involved.
And now what is probably the shitty reality of how it needs to be handled:
Call the police and file a complaint with them. They may be aware of the situation and take action. I've literally had the same thing happen in vergennes. Called animal control multiple times -nothing, called local police once - they came, checked on the welfare of the animals, and came back and spoke with the owners when they were home and told us to call immediately if it happened again.
Chances are you probably aren't the only person to have experienced, or said something about, your neighbors dogs. People who treat animals shitty tend to treat people shitty, and do other shitty things that the police may already be aware of.
Good luck.
I'm gonna go ahead and say I strongly recommend not going to talk to them. This person knows they're a shitty dog owner, I'm sorry but there's no way they don't. They just don't care.
If you're going to get the police involved to complain about noise (which I think you should) or escalate with repeated complaints to animal control, you do not want this person associating you with the reason they lost their dog or are being fined. The type of person who's going to just leave their dog outside barking all night is the type of person who would go out of their way to be shitty to the neighbor who caused trouble for them...
Good points. I guess it's a personal opinion, but I'd rather give them the chance to fix it before I get someone else involved.
If it were something like... having a party with loud music, I'd agree about trying to talk to them first. But a nightly occurrence with a dog barking at all hours sounds like animal neglect, and getting authorities involved in one way or another is probably the best thing to do, and that could get really ugly with the neighbor being fined and/or losing the animal.
Take the dog and give it the loving home it deserves.
Even with good intensions, Taking someone else’s dog is illegal.
I'd say rehoming neglected animals is one of those areas where the moral benefit outweighs the illegality.
Yes but an individual can’t decide to rehome someone’s dog. Animal control and/or a rescue organization has to do it.
I'm just saying that I see nothing morally wrong with stealing that dog. I do understand that would be theft.
So is paying someone else’s parking meter.
Continuing to Feed the meter is illegal (whether your own car or someone else’s) only if it results in the car staying over the allowed maximum length of stay.
That’s a bit different than stealing someone’s pet.
I would but the house has so much junk and trash outside of it I’d be weary. It’s the only house on the block that’s like that.
You’re looking for the words leery or wary. Weary means tired. Those are easy to mix up, it’s like a combination of the two.
Anyway, I’ve been dealing with a similar situation. I assumed the barking would stop once it got cold but no luck.
I was just about to respond with exactly this. I don’t know why this malapropism makes me so insane but it does. Thank you friend.
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Have you tried beating your neighbors with a stick? Just knock on the door and start swinging, cops will be called, then they will call animal control. You will get a record but hey it saves the dog.
Sounds exactly like the kinda piece of shit people I pictured when I first read your post.
Downvote all you like, but there are people who are legitimate pieces of shit, either by choice of because they don't know any better. And a special place in Hell is reserved for people who mistreat animals. Fuck these neighbors of OP.
I can’t advise against stealing someone’s dog in Northern Vermont strongly enough.
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"why do you call them shitty?"
Probably because they leave their fucking dog outside all night.
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It’s not uncommon for dogs to live outside in VT, especially if they’re working dogs.
Just because it’s not uncommon doesn’t make it right 🙄
Tbh a lot of working dogs prefer to be outside, especially cold weather dogs. I’m not saying this is the case here but if you had say a malimute they are way more comfortable in the snow then in a 70degree house. Again probs not the issue here but sometimes it is the right way to treat dogs.
I didn’t say it was. I gave an example of why a dog maybe left outside and why it would be acceptable. It’s important for working dogs to build a winter coat they don’t when they’re kept inside…. Not all dogs are pets 🤷🏼♂️.
The OP sounds like he doesnt like the mind your own business part of VT. Ive for a neighbor who has hunting dogs. They live outside. Some nights they bark. They are dogs. Barking is part of what they do.
Probably because it’s cold as fuck and dogs don’t like being cold.
Not really true in all cases some dogs are bread to be outside all winter and they much prefer it to being hot inside a house.
Some, not most. And even dogs like huskies and malamutes should have the option to come inside. It’s going to be -16f by the lake next week, that’s awful cold for any dog.
ASPCA. My downstairs neighbor left his dog alone in the apartment for three days. It was taken away a few days later. I think I called the police, but they're understaffed. I think they may have been there for the actual removal of the dog, but ASPCA did the footwork. Excellent people!
What kind of dog is it?
Unsure. I’ve seen it once but the dog always somehow gets loose and I find the kids that live there looking for it.
Here's why: some dogs bark because they're desperate to get back inside, some because they're bored, some because they've been confined for so long they're starting to go bonkers, and some because that's what the breed does.
How your neighbor addresses the issue will depend on if it's a working or guard or pet type, and how you approach it might benefit from leaving a little wiggle room -- not saying that the noise is acceptable because it isn't, but just saying that it might not help to assume that the dog is being abused. If it's a dachshund or spaniel, it might be very frigid and unhappy. If it's a Maremma or Pyrenees, it ain't cold and it's probably telling the coyotes to piss off.
Definitely not a guard dog. They just leave it out when they go out. I’ve had to pound their door at 3am because I can hear it bark from whenever they leave in the afternoon to early morning hours. They don’t seem to care for it, since it escapes quite often and they tie it to a tree and leave it out in temps below 20F.
<sigh> I feel your pain. There's a reason I know that (VERY LARGE VERY LOUD) Great Pyrenees will happily warn off coyotes ALL NIGHT. The sheep-guarding breeds will sometimes just do that, which is why PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS SHOULDN'T KEEP WORKING BREEDS AS DECORATIVE PETS DAMMIT whoops sorry I digress..
but anyway, the below-20 isn't going to ring any alarm bells on its own. Plenty of dogs can be just fine down into the single digits if they have a dry spot and wind protection.
You're probably going to have to do this from the reasonable-expectation-of-peaceful-enjoyment angle.
If you own your home, the town needs to help you out as a taxpayer. If you rent, is your landlord on board with going to bat for you? Landlords don't like to lose money/good tenants over this stuff, and you're back to the taxpayer thing again.
We own the house. But they don’t seem to care for the dog well. I record with time stamps every time it happens just incase.
Are they using the dogs as livestock guardian dogs?
Nope. The house has junk outside so I think they’re maybe hoarders. Their yard is smaller than mine.
Does your town have noise ordinances? Check into that. Some towns have hset hours for noise. If noise occurs outside those hours you should be able to call the police and have them handle It.
Unfortunately, Vermont’s animal cruelty laws are pretty weak. Same with any kind of enforcement of noise ordinances. Calling the cops will probably result in them telling you to call animal control. As a former Orleans resident (lived there over a decade)…my best advice is to move somewhere else.
Newman
Don't towns have nuisance or noise ordinances? That could be considered both.
Outside of doing something to your neighbors, you might need to get some ear plugs. It's not the dogs fault its owner's are poor white trash.
You could try feeding it.
Some do, some are really vague. We have a guy near us who breeds hunting hounds and they are kenneled in the backyard and incredibly noisy all year, but summer often means keeping windows closed to block them out. We gave up long ago as animal control said he's within his rights and the town doesn't have rules beyond the state rules which are useless:
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How do I find out what size gong I'm allowed to hire a worker to use, in the middle of the night? I mean, I know it says whatever size the select board or alderman prescribe in writing, but does anyone have a ballpark size here?
All joking aside, sorry you are having neighbor problems, it's something that gets easier with practice. If you are buddies with any of your other neighbors, you could ask their advice first too, they might have the skinny on what's going on.
Our town has a noise ordinance, but the police (or town) have no interest in enforcing it. The sheriff's deputies just say "Nothing we can do".
Sound's like lazy cops. They could probably solve it by knocking on their door and telling them it's a violation
Get one of those silent debarking devices and attach it to a tree aimed at the dog. Whenever he barks, a high pitched frequency will emit. He will start to bark less. Humans can’t hear the sound so it’s good for a stealth operation whereby you don’t end in terrible relationship with your neighbor. These devices can be purchased online for 30-50 dollars.
Unique-Public-8594 t1_j6cinbv wrote
If you don’t want to go to the police on this one, your options with the town might be:
Record the barking and the dog being tied up outside - multiple times. Update animal control with repeat offenses until they take action. Do all correspondence by email for evidence. Maybe include the video clips. Do this Daily if needed.
If that wasn’t sufficient, Go to the town hall and register a complaint with the town clerk, show them the emails and videos. Register it both as animal cruelty and a noise complaint.
If that did not suffice, request to meet with the animal control officer in person with the town clerk present
If that did not suffice, request that you be added to the agenda for the next town meeting.