How do i get a neighbor's dog to stop barking in the city of la? (Los Angeles: apartment, house)

[Jean Jeunet]

There is one house that has this Chihuahua that has quite a throat on him. He barks endlessly without fail for hours on end.

I tried calling the Police, but apparently the LAPD doesn't deal with "animal-related" disturbances, even if it's disturbing the neighborhood. They referred me to over to Animal control. Their process is that I need to write a letter and then they will send a supposed "threatening" letter to the pet owner. If the dog continues to bark, I need to call within 15 days (or write a letter), so that Animal control can be the mediator and setup a conference between the 3 of us.

I don't want this pet owner to know who I am or else he might retaliate and damage my property, car, etc. Has anyone had experience or know a way to have Animal services investigate and actually go to this person's house and talk to the owner by reporting this anonymously in order to prevent retaliation?

Help

[Mike121]

If, the dog isn't otherwise mistreated, you can't do it anonymously. You have to follow this procedure.

Los Angeles Animal Services (http://www.laanimalservices.com/serv_barkingdog.htm - broken link)

If the dog is 'mistreated,' like if it is barking because it is chained up for more than a couple of hours a day, then you might be able to report it anonymously. Anyway, you should then do this.

Los Angeles Animal Services (http://www.laanimalservices.com/serv_animalcruelty.htm - broken link)

(LMGTFY)

[chispito]

Originally Posted by Jean Jeunet

There is one house that has this Chihuahua that has quite a throat on him. He barks endlessly without fail for hours on end.

I tried calling the Police, but apparently the LAPD doesn't deal with "animal-related" disturbances, even if it's disturbing the neighborhood. They referred me to over to Animal control. Their process is that I need to write a letter and then they will send a supposed "threatening" letter to the pet owner. If the dog continues to bark, I need to call within 15 days (or write a letter), so that Animal control can be the mediator and setup a conference between the 3 of us.

I don't want this pet owner to know who I am or else he might retaliate and damage my property, car, etc. Has anyone had experience or know a way to have Animal services investigate and actually go to this person's house and talk to the owner by reporting this anonymously in order to prevent retaliation?

Help

The neighborly thing to do is always to contact the owner first and discuss it. If it were your rat dog, what would you prefer?

[pacific2]

First, talk to your neighbor about the barking, because he may not even be aware of the fact that his dog barks a lot. It may be that the dog has separation anxiety and primarily barks while the owner is gone. It sounds like you will eventually have to face your neighbor anyway if you want the problem resolved-
“ …so that Animal control can be the mediator and setup a conference between the 3 of us.” If you call Animal Control first, he’ll probably wonder why you never bothered to speak to him about the noise and, to your potential embarrassment, he will surely raise the issue during the mediation.

I lived In apartment when I first moved to California , and one my neighbors told me that my dog whined and stood almost spread eagle against the window while I was gone. I was glad that she told me because I had absolutely no idea that he was distressed (or, that he was upsetting anyone).

I promptly handled the situation so that both my dog and my neighbors (there must of have been others who said nothing) were happy.

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by Jean Jeunet

There is one house that has this Chihuahua that has quite a throat on him. He barks endlessly without fail for hours on end.

I tried calling the Police, but apparently the LAPD doesn't deal with "animal-related" disturbances, even if it's disturbing the neighborhood. They referred me to over to Animal control. Their process is that I need to write a letter and then they will send a supposed "threatening" letter to the pet owner. If the dog continues to bark, I need to call within 15 days (or write a letter), so that Animal control can be the mediator and setup a conference between the 3 of us.

I don't want this pet owner to know who I am or else he might retaliate and damage my property, car, etc. Has anyone had experience or know a way to have Animal services investigate and actually go to this person's house and talk to the owner by reporting this anonymously in order to prevent retaliation?

Help

Well being in LA you could always call the Pit Bull midget actor guy. Maybe he could help.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by chispito

The neighborly thing to do is always to contact the owner first and discuss it.

OP said she doesn't want the neighbor to know who's complaining, ostensibly out of fear.

L.A. story.

[Lovehound]

I could be wrong but I believe the initial form letter does not mention or identify the person or persons who complained. The OP should contact Animal Control and ask them this specific question. However as far as I understand, it's not possible to proceed past the initial letter without the complaining party becoming known.

I hate to tell you but IMO it's quite possible you will just have to live with the noise or move. I've had similar problems over the years and I simply outlasted them until they moved away or got rid of the dogs or whatever. I recall one time both my neighbor and I complained about a third neighbor, and the eventual resolution was that the offending neighbor had four Boston Terriers and animal control told him the law permits only three dogs maximum and he had to get rid of one of them. The noise problem seemed to abate after that.

OP, does this barking occur only in the daytime, does it occur during "quiet hours" or does it happen all day? You might benefit from reading this: LAPD - Noise Enforcement Guidelines. Perhaps the time of day may make a difference. Note that the main reference to dogs in that link states that dog noise is the responsibility of Animal Control. I think that nighttime noise would be far worse from an enforcement point of view but I could be wrong.

[sunbeamgr]

There is a good reason for it happening this way. Many years ago a puppy mill targeted me and said they would tell LAAS that my dog was barking and I would lose my dog. Fortunately they left that message on my answering machine and I was able to play it for LAAS. They then told me about this policy which is to prevent neighbors (or people in other cities - the situation in my case) from harassment. If you are afraid of your neighbor after going through this process, that may actually be an LAPD issue.

[eborg]

There are a couple of websites with good suggestions

Barking Dog|Neighbor's Barking Dog

Me, I think I'd spend a couple bucks at CVS or Walgreens and get one of those cheap ultrasonic noise devices set to discourage barking. It may not work, but if it does then it was definitely worth it.

[Twinkle Toes]

I get that maybe the OP is afraid of retaliation, we don't know what the relationship is between her and the neighbor. In our case, any time we've ever had a neighbor with a barking dog, we've been friendly about it, talked directly to the neighbor about the barking, and I've even offered to take care of the dog while they went away (dog was barking because it was lonely). We've always found that if you approach in a friendly manner, it works wonders.