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RhettRhett (Not even a monkey)
WEll, here is a condensed version of what has gone on. My mom bought a puppy (a full Collie) a few years back. She is a great dog, the only problem we had with her was that she liked to bark. Anyone walking down the street got barked at. She is just overly protective in that sense. So anyways, during the day we really didnt care, but at night we would make her be quiet (either by scolding her) or when the weather was appropriate putting her in hte garage. So anyways, last year my grandfather (on my moms side) was dying of cancer. As you can imagine, we were out of town quite a bit as a result. Well, the week before he passed away after his year long battle with cancer, we recieved a warning from the town about animal noise. WEll, we had been gone, so there was nothing we could really do about it. This understandably infuriated my mom and added another stress into her life (right when she didnt need it). Well we went in to talk to the city people, and they said not to worry aboujt it. So we didnt. Well, everything seemed to be going great until we recieved another warning during the period when we were in Europe. The thing about this was, my dad had taken Kira (The dog) into a training program where she would stay for quite a while. She left a mere 5 days after we had left for Europe. So when we came home, we were understandably suprised and confused to find another complaint about noise. We figured it must have been an accidental thing or someone had been complaining about the neighbor dogs (who bark every night) and accidently put in our address. So we figured just let it slide, and we forgot about it.

Now, it turned out Kira was gone for almost 7 weeks, she just came back this tuesday (the 12th). She obeys commands a hell of alot better, and so we are keeping her in the house every night as well as having my sister watch her in the house during the day while we are away. We are also keeping up training her ourselves.

Today a letter came. Another complaint about noise. Now, the letter was dated the 13th (the day the "complaint") was recieved, and postmarked the 14th. On it it had a handwritten remark under the "other" section saying "The barking must stop immediately." It specified that the complaint did not come from city officials, but from a citizen (as the other complaints had been).
Now this is total bullshit, because the dog had came home at 7:30 at night, spent the night inside, the spent all the following days and nights in the house (going out for a few hours every day-during which my sister was here, and the dog didnt bark).

This must be harrasment, then. Because, the dog is not barking, it is not a fluke event, and there are no other explanations. So we are planning to find out who is doing this and file a complaint. MY mom is under enough stress from work and life in general- she does not need this crap.

So my question is, do you agree that this is harrasment? Did I even make sense? :D. What do you think we should do?
Thanks.

Comments

  • Rogue TraderRogue Trader Somebody stop him...
    My oppinion is that your rant was way too long and i lost interest long before reading it all the way through, yet my oppinion is

    Yes.

    :D
  • Captain,SimmondsCaptain,Simmonds Trainee trainee
    I lost Interest withing the first three lines and after seeing how long the post is:D
  • well, I'm not 100% on this, but am PRETTY certain.

    This DOES qualify as harrasment, just as the phone isn't ment to be used to harrass someone, neither is the mail, there are laws in place to prevent it.

    Head to the police station and talk to a cop, or call a lawyer. Usually they can give free advice, and inform you as to the laws in cases such as this.
  • shadow boxershadow boxer The Finger Painter & Master Ranter
    drop a note in everyones letterbox within earshot of your place. tell everyone your dog is going to obedience, that shes learning. explain everything clearly and concisely to the neighbourhood whats going on.

    Also add that the continous complaints about the dogs noise when she clearly is not the culprit is tatamount to harassment. Ask the person to come forward in person so you can talk directly to them, ask them to NOT take the drastic and confrontational step of complaining to the council/police, rather that they should try talking to your family first.

    you need to smoke out the coward with the chip on his/her shoulder who doesnt address you directly. Perhaps if the whole neighbourhood knows they are being a pain in the butt, they'll shut up... or... the person whose dog IS making the noise may just shut thier mutt up... or the ignormaus who is complaining may just work out it isnt your dog making the noise....

    anyways... if you cover your arse by distributing such a letter, you will have a better standing in court etc if mr arsehole complainer wont shut his/her neck

    as long as your dog is quiet when it should be, youve notified the neighbours that shes a good dog then...

    youre cool.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    Sounds to me like someone has something against your dog. I'd say it could be harrassment.
  • [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Biggles [/i]
    [B]Sounds to me like someone has something against your dog. I'd say it could be harrassment. [/B][/QUOTE]

    Agreed, it sounds like someone may be doing this on purpose.

    Regards,
    Morden
  • MessiahMessiah Failed Experiment
    Yeah, go to the police for advice. It could certainly qualify as harassment here.
  • RhettRhett (Not even a monkey)
    Ok, thanks for your advice. The first thing I think we are going to try to do is make the city tell us who is filing the complaints. Also going to talk to them and ask then what they recommend. But thanks again, Ill let you know what happens. As to dropping a letter, we have done the equivalent and told the neighborhood snoop (you know everyone has one) about the situation before, so basically everyone around should know. But that is a good suggestion, sb. I will look into doing that.

    The thing of it is, there is no way it was our dog. If it happened only once, we would write it off. But now that it has come back a second time, I doubt it could be a simple mistake. Thanks again!
  • shadow boxershadow boxer The Finger Painter & Master Ranter
    dude... by putting it in writing and sending it into the neighbourhood you are giving yourself a much stronger position legally, the act of doing so is proof of your attempts to rectify the matter, it's in the public record that you've done your best to solve the problem.

    perhaps a small ad in the local rag would be good too.

    you make the complaintant look like a prick...

    its worth doing mate or I wouldnt suggest it
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    A small ad might be going to far. This is only relevant to the people within hearing distance of the dog, not the entire suburb. :)
  • [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by rhett [/i]
    [B]Ok, thanks for your advice. The first thing I think we are going to try to do is make the city tell us who is filing the complaints. [/B][/QUOTE]

    Despite it being your right to find out who is causing you all this trouble, the council will probably have some kind of bogus "confidentiality clause" protecting the moron who'se doing this.

    I'd still try and find out though, and if you can't do the guy for harassment, the council will definately have [b]his/her[/b] details.

    Regards,
    Morden
  • RhettRhett (Not even a monkey)
    One nice thing is that my dad is really influential (due to the fact that he has lived hear and taught here for 30+ years). Although he and my mom are divorced, they get along great and he is helping out. One of the councilmen is a former student and he knows almost everyone. But we filed the form to find out who it is. If they wont give us that, we will go from there.
  • C_MonC_Mon A Genuine Sucker
    I wish you good luck!
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