Animal Control (Virginia Beach: oceanfront, townhouse, tenant)

[Statz2k10]

I live in a townhouse area in Virginia Beach. Been living there for almost a year. I've always heard dog barking off and on but lately it's becoming ridiculous.

There is a neighbor who has two dogs and they let them out as early as 645 in the morning. The dogs are just howling and barking. You might have a minute or two where you don't hear anything but then they are barking again. I timed it the other morning and it was a good 15-20 minutes before they let them back inside.

During the weekend it seems that they leave them outside and leave there house. During that time you'll hear the dogs off an on for a good 6 hours.

In the afternoon I'm assuming when they get home from work there is a good chance you'll hear them during the entire time you're eating dinner. We had a cookout the other day and a group of friends even got annoyed having to listen to them while we were outside.

There are other people who live in our block that have dogs. I hear them but once I hear them. 2-3 minutes later they are bringing them back inside. So it really only seems to be one owners dogs that are the problem.

Now, I have written a letter and mailed it to them annomously politely asking them to shorten the amount of time they are outside because it's bothering us.

I'm going to try and wait about a week or two before contacting animal control. Hoping they read my letter and are corteous enough to try and correct the situation. I'm just wondering if anybody has experience with this issue and even more in this particular city of VB.

[jhrichmond]

Are the dogs running loose or are they in a private area?

[CrazyTed]

Depending on what time you call and how busy animal control is, a police officer may be the one that responds to the call for service.

[Statz2k10]

Originally Posted by jhrichmond

Are the dogs running loose or are they in a private area?

private area/small backyard.

[jhrichmond]

I don't think animal control will do anything about a dog barking on private property.

[Statz2k10]

Originally Posted by jhrichmond

I don't think animal control will do anything about a dog barking on private property.

So it's okay to just have a dog barking/howling loud as hell at 645 in the morning when you live by 10 people within 50 yard radius?

[jhrichmond]

I think noise ordinances are in effect until 7 a.m., so no, 6:45 isn't allowed, but you need to contact police for a noise complaint... We had a similar problem at a prior home.

[Statz2k10]

Originally Posted by jhrichmond

I think noise ordinances are in effect until 7 a.m., so no, 6:45 isn't allowed, but you need to contact police for a noise complaint... We had a similar problem at a prior home.

What kinda problem did you have?

I looked up some laws on the web site for vbgov. They talked about dog barking. Something along the lines that if it's excessive barking it's the owners responsibility to correct the situation.

I will say this. It's a good thing I have a fan running in my room or I'd always wake up. Sometimes if they don't get too carried away I won't hear it because of my fan. Still, means I have to keep a fan on all night which just makes the room colder since it's going into the fall/winter.




http://www.vbgov.com/file_source/dep...ng/3072ord.pdf

[LEFT]756 Sec. 5-532. Barking dogs.[/LEFT]
[LEFT]757
758 (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to keep a dog without exercising proper
759 care and control of such dog to prevent it from disturbing the peace of others by barking
760 in a loud, continuous or untimely manner. Any person, whether as owner, tenant,
761 occupant, lessee or otherwise, in charge or control of the property where such dog is
762 kept, or the owner of such dog, shall be responsible for exercising control of such dog
763 under this section.
764
765 (b) It shall be the duty of any animal control officer or police officer, who may
766 find any dog disturbing the peace of others by barking in a loud, continuous or untimely
767 manner, to advise the owner of such dog, or the person in charge or control of the
768 property where such dog is kept, to exercise proper control and care of such dog to
769 prevent it from barking in such manner. If such owner or person refuses to cooperate
770 with the police officer or animal control officer, or is unable to prevent such dog from
771 barking in such manner, or if the animal control officer or police officer is unable to
772 locate any person on the property where such dog is kept, it shall be the duty of the
773 animal control officer or police officer to take such dog into possession. The
774 impoundment provisions of § 5-400 of this Chapter shall be applicable to and followed
775 by animal control officers, the Bureau of Animal Control and police officers upon taking[/LEFT]
776 possession of any dog under this section.

[Erma]

Have you spoken to your neighbors? Maybe they don't know or realize their dogs are disturbing you? We had a similar issue at our old house with the neighbor behind us. We confronted him with the problem, which he wasn't aware of because he was working so much. He eventually took care of the problem, had someone come to his house to spend time with his dogs while at work.

[Ravenzz]

I live at the oceanfront..I have a Inconsiderate neighbor who would leave her dogs out and let them bark at will never trying to quiet them..and their fence is 6 ft from my house..I called,animal control..the officer came out and was ver nice..the dog were out there barking when she got here so she saw it 1st hand..she wrote my neighbor a ticket..I have a dog and love animals..but people that put their dogs out and let them mindlessly bark for extended periods drive me nuts..I have a dog if he is barking I go bring him in..not only do I not wanna hear it but my neighbors probably don't either..but some people don't care bout no one but themselves..so YES there is a city ordinance in va beach for barking dogs..it's called..... disturbing the peace..In Virginia Beach we have an ordinance that specifically addresses barking dogs, and is classified as a class 4 misdemeanor. Briefly it states that the owner must prevent his dog from disturbing the peace by barking in a loud, continuous, or untimely manner. If a dog is found barking in a manner that would be a violation of the law the owner may be issued a summons. If the owner cannot be located, or refuses to cooperate the animal can be impounded as well. If an officer does not find the owner in violation, the complainant can contact a magistrate to seek a barking dog summons against the owner.....The applicable city code sections:
Sec. 5-10. Barking dogs.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to keep a dog without exercising proper care and control of such dog to prevent it from disturbing the peace of others by barking in a loud, continuous or untimely manner. Any person, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee or otherwise, in charge or control of the property where such dog is kept, or the owner of such dog, shall be responsible for exercising control of such dog under this section.
(b) It shall be the duty of any animal control officer of the bureau of animal control or police officer, who may find any dog disturbing the peace of others by barking in a loud, continuous or untimely manner, to advise the owner of such dog, or the person in charge or control of the property where such dog is kept, to exercise proper control and care of such dog to prevent it from barking in such manner. If such owner or person refuses to cooperate with the police officer or animal control officer, or is unable to prevent such dog from barking in such manner, or if the animal control officer or police officer is unable to locate any person on the property where such dog is kept, it shall be the duty of the animal control officer or police officer to take such dog into possession. The impoundment provisions of sections 5-68 through 5-71 of this chapter shall be applicable to and followed by the animal control officer, bureau of animal control and police officer upon taking any dog into possession under this section.
(c) The animal control officer or police officer may issue a summons to any person he finds in violation of this section.