TRO for someone's uncontrollable dogs?

[sobo]

First off, apologies to all of you out there that have dogs that are trained and behaved...

rant/
The asshat "neighbors" are at it again. For the past two weekends, plus all week in between, they've left their barking, yowling, whining, crying, yelping mutts (3 of them!) abandoned in their backyard with no one home to do a damned thing about it. I am at my wit's end. I have a conference call to Nairobi at 0630 tomorrow, and I can't get a lick of sleep. It's been like this since Friday the 6th, when those assmutts got dropped off and left.

The cops won't do anything. They say it's Animal Control's job. Animal Control won't do anything without months and months of recorded data on their cute little forms of each and every date, time, location, and duration of each particular dog barking. Can't kill 'em, no one takes them inside or quiets them, and I'm out of options. I have zero quality of life, I can't even use my backyard, being barked and snarled at constantly through the fence. It's a PITA to try and grill and I feel like a damned burglar in my own backyard with "Security" lighting off every time I even open my back door. My neighborhood sucks now because of these disrespectful assclowns and their dogs. Yet, if I call them out on it, then I'm a racist and must check my white privilege.

They are barking at absolutely nothing right now...

/rant

Can one get a restraining order on dogs?

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[pharmseller]

Barking gets no response.

Neglect is a different matter.

I'm concerned for their welfare because no one seems to be home and I can see through the fence that the water bowl is empty. I haven't seen anyone at the house for a couple of days.

Thank me later.

 

[Xaevian]

Can one get a restraining order on dogs?

Dogs are property, so no, sorry.

 

[SrMachoSolo]

Most cities do have an ordinance for "nuisance animals". You'll have to start with filing a complaint, and then escalate to lawsuits. A civil suit of the landlord, if they are renters, usually gets something done.

Here's the one for Kennewick:

Animal Nuisance Complaints | Kennewick, WA

Read an explanation of the City's barking dog ordinance and what to do about barking dog complaints.

www.go2kennewick.com

Other options are the 50% chance of an off the shelf ultra sonic device working to "train" the dogs.

I know your frustration all too well. Don't let the race baiters scare you. I'm willing to go talk to these people myself, lemme know.

-Robert

 

[arakboss]

Sedation, go easy if you use horse tranqs.

 

[arakboss]

It would be shame if some how they escaped the backyard to roam free in the city.

 

[BBQ Guy]

I am assuming you have talked to the a-hole owners from your statement.

I love dogs as you can see. I have found that dogs are a reflection of their owners. A-hole dogs = A-hole owners.
Short of an actual attack on either an animal or human, there aint much you can do.
Although i would gather the rest of your neighbors and ask them to file complaints daily, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The nature of the complaints should reflect their abandonment, vicious behavior, and how they have been in your yard stopping you from going outside to use the grill on occasion.

A steak bite or two when they behave might start coercing good behavior from the dogs. I know that is not your responsibility but it could get you some respite from the obnoxious barking.

It's also increasingly difficult and expensive to get dogs back that are repeat offenders for escaping the confines of their yard and menacing the neighborhood.

 

[arakboss]

I am assuming you have talked to the a-hole owners from your statement.

I love dogs as you can see. I have found that dogs are a reflection of their owners. A-hole dogs = A-hole owners.
Short of an actual attack on either an animal or human, there aint much you can do.
Although i would gather the rest of your neighbors and ask them to file complaints daily, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The nature of the complaints should reflect their abandonment, vicious behavior, and how they have been in your yard stopping you from going outside to use the grill on occasion.

A steak bite or two when they behave might start coercing good behavior from the dogs. I know that is not your responsibility but it could get you some respite from the obnoxious barking.

It's also increasingly difficult and expensive to get dogs back that are repeat offenders for escaping the confines of their yard and menacing the neighborhood.

I was mostly joking but sometimes desperate times require desperate measures.

 

[BBQ Guy]

I was mostly joking but sometimes desperate times require desperate measures.

Having had one of my dogs attacked 2 years ago, in my yard, by a repeat offending dog. I know the difficulty in getting a trouble animal removed by animal control / police all too well.
In my case, the attacking dog went on to attack a third neighbor's dog. The owners relocated the a-hole dog rather than euthanizing it.

 

[sobo]

Barking gets no response.

Neglect is a different matter.

I'm concerned for their welfare because no one seems to be home and I can see through the fence that the water bowl is empty. I haven't seen anyone at the house for a couple of days.

Thank me later.

Tried that one already when it sounded like one of the mutts was being tortured to death. You would not believe how pitiful and mournful an abandoned dog sounds - yowling, whining, crying, yelping - you name it, any and all sounds of plaintively asking for some level of attention, totally non-stop for hours upon hours, ad nauseam. You woulda thought that dog woulda developed laryngitis over how much yelping and yowling that poor mutt uttered... Cops showed up, told the loozrz that live there to knock it off and take the dog inside. That worked once. Just once. Doesn't work anymore. I'm told by KPD that it's an Animal Control problem. See what I wrote above regarding Animal Control and how they throw the problem back at the abused, and not the perpetrator.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I wouldn't do this but a long time ago, I witnessed a fella scootch the barrel of his 12 gauge loaded with 00-buck over the fence and shoot the neighbors incessantly barking dog smack dab center mass. Nothing ever came of it save no more barking.

 

[sobo]

Most cities do have an ordinance for "nuisance animals". You'll have to start with filing a complaint, and then escalate to lawsuits. A civil suit of the landlord, if they are renters, usually gets something done.

Been there, done that. Animal Control is basically useless. I have months upon months of data on their cute little complaint forms. When I was ready to drop the hammer on these loozrz, they moved the dogs out. When I tried to submit the data, the AC people said that if the dogs are no longer there, then they cannot accept the forms. I said, "What about if they come back? I want this record of past disruptive behavior on file." That was met with, "No dogs, we cannot accept the forms. You will have to start recording the data again once the dogs return, if they do." Of course, they did. Multiple times. This is just one more time they've been dumped in this backyard. AC just doesn't want to be bothered with doing their phuq'n job, it seems...

Here's the one for Kennewick:

Animal Nuisance Complaints | Kennewick, WA

Read an explanation of the City's barking dog ordinance and what to do about barking dog complaints.

www.go2kennewick.com

That's literally of no help. As I said, "Been there, already done that."

Other options are the 50% chance of an off the shelf ultra sonic device working to "train" the dogs.

While DuckDuckGoing (it's just like Googling, except not using Google) at 0130 hrs this morning, whilst being serenaded by my canine chorus next door, I came across the hypersonic dog trainer. Damn, those things are expensive for something that may not even solve the problem. But this may actually be my next step, short of going to small claims court or getting a TRO against the human inhabitants, which the KPD officer that called me back at 12:30 this morning said I could do, although granting the TRO is entirely up to a judge. I should note that the KPD officer that called me after midnight this morning said he could actually hear the mutts barking while we were on the call, with me in my bedroom with the window closed tight. That's how bad it is, when someone on the phone can hear it plainly, too.

I know your frustration all too well. Don't let the race baiters scare you. I'm willing to go talk to these people myself, lemme know.

While I appreciate such a gracious offer, I don't know what you think you could accomplish, since they pretty much DGAFF about how disruptive and disturbing of the peace both they and their mutts are. I should mention that these people are also quite the boorish lot. Late-night pool parties that run until 3 or 4 am during the week, while the rest of us have jobs to go to the next day, loud music, loud profanity amongst their party guests, beer bottles breaking, of course the dogs, etc. Just this single household has destroyed the peace and tranquility that used to mark this neighborhood. They are, quite literally, a basket of deplorables, to use a term with which we may be familiar...

 

[sobo]

Sedation, go easy if you use horse tranqs.

I asked the KPD officer that called me back after midnight this morning if I could drug the mutts the way the two burglars did in Home Alone (I think it was Home Alone), by pouring chloroform or something akin to it on a hunk-o-meat and heaving it over the fence. He said, "I would not recommend that." I then asked him if KPD has tranquilizer guns, to which he responded "Not on our list of tools right now." I asked him if they could remove or even shoot the dogs, or even the people (I was getting a bit twitchy by this point), to which he responded, "No, we can't do that." I facetiously asked if I could (with a pellet gun, of course), to which he repeated his earlier reply, "I would not recommend that."

He said he would drive by, but I informed him that at my last check at 2100 hrs, no one was home, and likely they still had not returned 3-1/2 hours later. I never heard back from the cofficer.

So, in short, sedation is out.

 

[sobo]

It would be shame if some how they escaped the backyard to roam free in the city.

Don't know how I would do that short of trespassing onto their property and opening the gate from the backyard to the street. I haven't checked for security cameras, but it would suck to be caught on camera letting the mutts loose. I would then become the law-breaker, and the paradigm would shift against me.

 

[SrMachoSolo]

That's a lot of words...

You only specified that you've called the police, who blamed AC, and back and forth. I know how they operate (ie don't operate).

So... Are they renters or no? The whole point of doing the song and dance according to law is preparing for the lawsuit that will get them evicted... which it sounds like you're on your way to doing, as it wasn't mentioned originally.

You say I'm no help... but what are you asking here, just venting and being rude to my response talking about legal actions?

Seems like you want an excuse to do something illegal.

-Robert

 

[sobo]

I am assuming you have talked to the a-hole owners from your statement.

Early on, shortly after they moved in in July of 2020, we had an exchange about one of the dogs. At 0130 hrs one Sunday morning in September of 2020, I was told in no uncertain terms, "Shut up and go back to sleep, old man!" I replied, "That would be much easier if you were to quiet that dog." I was treated to additional invectives and some profanity, so I decided trying to have a dialog with these "people" would not bear any fruit. I got the impression from that single encounter that the inhabitants are not in the mood to discuss their boorishness and disrespectfulness in a manner that might yield positive results for all concerned.

I love dogs as you can see. I have found that dogs are a reflection of their owners. A-hole dogs = A-hole owners.
Short of an actual attack on either an animal or human, there aint much you can do.
Although i would gather the rest of your neighbors and ask them to file complaints daily, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The nature of the complaints should reflect their abandonment, vicious behavior, and how they have been in your yard stopping you from going outside to use the grill on occasion.

The people are asshats, as I just described above. No surprise the dogs are a bunch of undisciplined currs.

The dogs cannot enter my property unless they break down the wooden fence that separates us, although the mutts do indeed attempt this whenever I or my cat venture into my backyard. These currs throw themselves against the fence and bark incessantly whenever I go onto my back porch, or my cat decides to go outside to do her business and cat things. The neighbor to my west has also complained and called the cops, but she got the same response I have been getting. She even took iPhone video of the one dog whining and yelping due to abandonment in the yard, but the KPD and AC did not act upon it. Nobody in a position of authority or having jurisdiction appears to want to do their job. KPD does not seem to want to enforce KMC Ordinance #5894, Unnecessary Noise, Section 9.52.030, Paragraph 2 (a) through (g). Yes, I've looked it up and read it. These people routinely violate all 7 of those subparagraphs.

A steak bite or two when they behave might start coercing good behavior from the dogs. I know that is not your responsibility but it could get you some respite from the obnoxious barking.

Not happening. I would be tempted to "indoctrinate" it with "something"...

It's also increasingly difficult and expensive to get dogs back that are repeat offenders for escaping the confines of their yard and menacing the neighborhood.

It's not about escaping. It's about incessant and uncontrolled barking and other senseless noisemaking.

 

[sobo]

I was mostly joking but sometimes desperate times require desperate measures.

I think this is the point to which I have arrived...

 

[sobo]

Having had one of my dogs attacked 2 years ago, in my yard, by a repeat offending dog. I know the difficulty in getting a trouble animal removed by animal control / police all too well.
In my case, the attacking dog went on to attack a third neighbor's dog. The owners relocated the a-hole dog rather than euthanizing it.

Again, this is not about these mutts roaming free and attacking other animals/people. They are confined to the backyard that abuts my backyard, where they are abandoned and not attended to for days at a time, except for someone to feed them periodically. No one plays with them, spends any time with them, nor quiets them when they need to be quieted.

 

[sobo]

I wouldn't do this but a long time ago, I witnessed a fella scootch the barrel of his 12 gauge loaded with 00-buck over the fence and shoot the neighbors incessantly barking dog smack dab center mass. Nothing ever came of it save no more barking.

I asked the cop about that, to which he said, "I would not recommend that."

That's a great way for me to become the aggressor in this scenario and likely lose gun rights or at least get a record, as there are laws against discharging firearms, even pellet guns and arrows, within city limits. I know this cuz I read it in the KMC, and I also asked the officer if I could plug these mutts in the azz with a well-placed Crossman 7.4-gr .177 caliber pellet from my SIG P226 pellet pistol. He did not recommend that.

 

[sobo]

That's a lot of words...

You only specified that you've called the police, who blamed AC, and back and forth. I know how they operate (ie don't operate).

So... Are they renters or no? The whole point of doing the song and dance according to law is preparing for the lawsuit that will get them evicted... which it sounds like you're on your way to doing, as it wasn't mentioned originally.

You say I'm no help... but what are you asking here, just venting and being rude to my response talking about legal actions?

Seems like you want an excuse to do something illegal.

-Robert

Robert,

I do not know if they are renters or not, but I suspect they are. Here's why: The kindly retired couple that used to live there and with whom I interacted with splendidly for 15 years (until 2 years ago when they sold the place) told me they sold the place to a retired USMC gentleman, an LTC if I recall correctly. I have never seen anyone in that backyard that might remotely fit the description of a retired USMC LTC. But then again, I'm not Mrs. Kravitz from Bewitched, peeking over the fence at all hours of the day/night. That being said, I do see a lot of Millennial and early-Gen Z types making noise out there. I have toyed with the idea of calling the person listed as the property owner in County records, but that seems to me to be laying the problem at the feet of someone who is not the problem. But maybe that time has come for that approach, so I appreciate your suggestion. Have you run into a similar problem with renters where you were compelled to contact the landlord? If so, how does landlord/tenant law support that, given that we are now in "COVID times" where renters aren't even required to pay the rent anymore? Not being snarky, I just want to know if this is a viable approach these days.

And let me apologize to you if you were offended, but I did not say that you were of no help. I said, or at least my intended meaning was, that the process for dealing with nuisance animals is of no help in this town.

See what I wrote here:

That's literally of no help. As I said, "Been there, already done that."

I do not believe that the above remark was directed at you personally, but rather at the AC folks and their process. If you took it that way, then I'm sorry that you did, but that was not my intention.

Lastly, nowhere here have I asked permission or sought an excuse to do anything illegal. In fact, I believe I've gone out of my way to state that I will not do anything illegal. In no way do I intend to do anything that would endanger my gun rights. I'm searching/asking for legal approaches to solve this problem. To that end, I think both of your earlier suggestions, (hypersonic bark device and landlord engagement - if they are indeed renters) are likely the two best avenues to go down now. I was unaware of the hypersonic device until very early this morning, so that's a new thing to investigate and I appreciate you mentioning it, if for no other reason than I might not have discovered it myself. In closing, I'm just not the kind of guy to go gripe to the landlord. That's what I thought noise ordinances, police, and animal control officers were for...