Dogs

Our neighbor has a dog that barks all of the time. Our neighbors, including us, have talked to the dog owner and he does nothing to stop the barking.

Here is the actual wording in the HOA Rules and Reg.

Animals and Pets: No animals, livestock, or poultry of any kind shall be raised, bred, or kept on any portion of the propertiresie, except that dogs, cats, or other usual and common household pets not to exceed a total of two may be permitted in a unit. However, those pets which are permitted to roam free, or, in the sole discretion of the Association, endanger the health, make objectionable noise, or constitute a nuisance of inconvenience to the owners of other units or the owner of any portion of the properties shall be removed upon request of the board. If the owner fails to honor such request, the pet may be removed by the board. No pets shall be kept, bred, or maintained for any commerical purpose. Dogs shall, al all times whenever they are outside a unit, be confined on a leash held by a responsible person.

What should we do?

"...make objectionable noise, or constitute a nuisance of inconvenience to the owners of other units or the owner of any portion of the properties shall be removed upon request of the board. If the owner fails to honor such request, the pet may be removed by the board."

What should you do?

Show the HO this language, ask that the rules be followed or...

Your BOD is prepared to do what?

Does your area have a noise ordinance? Depending when the barking occurs, they might be breaking a noise ordinance.

That's a great question Brian. How about a hamster, gerbil and 3 fish? Certainly some people have more than 2 pets.

I'd be very surprised if your CC&R's allowing you to remove a dog wouldn't be breaking your city or county laws.

I've been in the same situation as you. I first talked to all the adjacent homeowners and asked how the dogs were effecting them. I then called Animal Control and gave her all the information and asked for her suggestions and what the law was. I then talked to the homeowner, armed with packets on barking dogs, the city ordinance, the complaints from the neighbors, and the Animal Control Officer's name and number. He took the suggestions and the dogs stopped barking for a good while.
Then about a year later, it all started up again.

In my city the Animal Control gets a history on the dog from whomever calls in, and it can be anonymous. The dog is allowed to bark for 20 minutes between 7:00 a.m. and 10 p.m., and for 10 minutes between 10:00 p.m and 7:00 a.m. Once the AC Officer gets the call he/she will go out and sit for the allotted time and listen. If, indeed the dog is barking the officer will issue a warning citation to the homeowner. If this happens three times, the owner gets fined $125 the first time, and each time after that another $125 until the third time, when the dog can be removed from the home, ONLY by the city.

Our homeowner got fined $125, but because it was a regular patrol officer and not an animal control officer that responded to the call, he could only sit for 17 minutes before he got called away. The case was dismissed because of those three minutes! My AC office was quite upset. Then for a year they had no history because the neighboring homeowner gave up and only called the dog owner, which does nothing.

The AC officer said that in the seven years she's been doing this they've removed one dog from the home and that's because conditions were abusive. She said if an officer can't come out, the complaining neighbor should tape the barking, mark the time and be prepared to go to court. Having said all this, it is incredibly hard to deal with barking dogs. The effected must be willing to call every time the dog is barking, not the homeowner, but Animal Control so they will have the history. The homeowner already knows he is not doing anything about it. The association must be willing to fine him, if you have a system of CC&R violation fines set up. It must be willing to slap a lien on the property if he does not pay the fines or solve the problem.

But most importantly, you have to work with your animal control officer, work with the complaining neighbors, and be upfront with the homeowner, getting everything in writing. In my opinion, barking dogs are the worst problem there is. Our AC officer said that barking dogs are the number one neighbor dispute and the most damaging, due to disrupted sleep, ceaseless noise, violent altercations and, my personal favorite, the universal dog owners response, "Oh he's not barking that much."

Good luck.

Dorothy