Gone to the Dogs

When I moved back into this neighbourhood in 1985 there were not many dogs to speak of.

Today they're everywhere, behind us, on all sides, next door, across the street, I can't help but wonder why the big difference.

What do some dogs do all day, why they sit in tiny 2 bedroom apartments and some,
two in particular, bark, the live long day, a tiny dog I not set eyes on & a Pit Bull.
Two apartments, two barkers, one on our side, one behind us.
Both stop for minutes, bark, stop, bark, stop... get the picture?
Both bark as if someone is threatening both life and limb, and or as if some one is breaking into their fine albeit teeny abode.


I like dogs, I really do, I love the white Shepard across the street, and the one behind on our right, true, some more then others, just like people, I don't love them all, either way I hate listening to my neighbours dog's incessant barking, their constant whining,
The Pit bulls Husky companion next door, but he's whining is NOthing compared to the
"rip through your ears" bark of it's fellow companion, the Bull Pit's sharp loud bark and the incessant high pitched bark of the site unseen, unknown little dog.


Both of these dogs drives me nuts, their barking with a full fledged passion, is intrusive, distracting and most annoying, I find it hard to work and feel the sound in my solar plexus.

So what can I do about it,  not much, not without making for bad feelings,
I can pretend the owners wouldn't retaliate, but I know better, but out of curiosity,
I did look up the local laws on barking.

Chapter 140: Section 157. Vicious dogs; nuisance; barking or other disturbance; annoyance to  sick person; attacks on other dogs
" Section 157. If any person shall make complaint in writing to the selectmen of a town, the officer in charge of the animal commission or person charged with the responsibility of handling dog complaints of a city, or the county commissioners, that any dog owned or harbored within his or their jurisdiction is a nuisance by reason of vicious disposition or excessive barking or other disturbance, or that any such dog by such barking or other disturbance is a source of annoyance to any sick person residing in the vicinity such selectmen, officer in charge of the animal commission or person charged with the responsibility of handling dog complaints or county commissioners shall investigate or cause to be investigated such complaint, including an examination on oath of the complainant, and may make such order concerning the restraint or disposal of such dog as may be deemed necessary. Within ten days after such order the owner or keeper of such dog may bring a petition in the district court within the judicial district of which the dog is owned or kept, addressed to the justice of the court, praying that the order may be reviewed by the court, or magistrate thereof, and after such notice to the officer or officers involved as the magistrate deem necessary the magistrate shall review such action, hear the witnesses and affirm such order unless it shall appear that it was made without proper cause or in bad faith, in which case such order shall be reversed. Any party shall have the right to request a de novo hearing on the petition before a justice of the court. The decision of the court shall be final and conclusive upon the parties. Any person owning or harboring such dog who shall fail to comply with any order of the selectmen, officer in charge of the animal commission or person charged with the responsibility of handling dog complaints, county commissioners or district court, as the case may be shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars for the first offense and not more than one hundred dollars for a second or subsequent offense, or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, for the first offense and not more than sixty days for a second or subsequent offense, or both.


The act of a dog in attacking or biting another dog or other animal may be made the subject of a complaint under the provisions of this section.

Magistrates shall exercise their authority hereunder subject to the limitations of section sixty-two C of chapter two hundred and twenty-one."



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 I'm not going to file a complaint I'm not in the market to cause trouble and fines, Although I was amazed at the woman living downstairs of the Pit didn't call when he grabbed her tiny dog and shook it, much to our amazement & relief not killing it.

When the Pit bull suddenly appeared out of the blue as the "beloved pet" of our neighbours, he was allowed to roam free!
I put my foot down on that and did some talking to the owner.

I know, I know, the story about Pit Bulls people, the dogs are not viscous, it's the owners to blame if they are, it all about their training... blah, blah, spare me your yada, yada, the breed was bred to fight.. and in the end it is people that own them right, and some of them are far from responsible with their Dogs!

Now some people want to change  change pit bull rules
Some Pit Bull facts


I think it's high time dog ownership became a bit more then attaining a license - owning a dog is NOT like buying a pair of shoes, a pair of kicks.

Lets hold people accountable for their vicious dogs, and leave the people that leave their dogs in a car for a few minutes alone, ( lets make sure we know what the story is first before we react like the big know it all dog cop!)) a woman that took her dogs for a ride, as was the case of my sister, who left her dogs in a well ventilated car, with water, not in the dead of summer, under the shade of a tree, and for mere minutes, to run into a convenient store.
Let me tell you. NO ones loves her babies more then she,  much more than some strangers, and she is well versed,  knowledgeable about any danger to her Dogs, she endowed with excellent judgement, a few minutes posed no risk to her beloved dogs, Nor to the passerby's, but sure as sugar, she found herself to be verbally assaulted by a cop for them being in her car, someone had reported her and a cop nearby came to assert himself, because some tight ass moron decided her dogs were in danger,  lets face it, it was only because they barked. There is a HUGE difference in barking and viciousness.

In my opinion the likes of pit bulls, presa canario / mastiffs,  and dogs bred for guarding (usually criminals) & fighting have no place in this world, we have enough criminals in people, we do not need to breed these types of dogs people that do breed them should pay through the nose to have the right to breed murderous dogs.


You bet your bottom dollar, when I'm in my garden I'm on the look out, there is no fence that is good enough to separate us from this seemingly aggressive pit bull, and a sharp spade is by my side at all times.
One needs to know when to report a problem, when to make a fussy, for now the barking goes on, soon the windows will be closed for autumn and winter, quiet at long last.

I'd rather have a Black Lab( like this sweetie) as a next door neighbour verses a pit bull any day, but those are the breaks.


An interesting little snippet; Carla Freccero:
"Figural Historiography: Dogs, Humans, and Cynanthropic Becomings"


Sept 16th 2010 update: In New Hampshire,  Mail Service Stopped Again Over Dog Issues ; USPS Says Gate Meant To Contain Aggressive Dogs Was Removed..