Filing Complaints on Neighbor's Pets?

F

foxyhorn

100+ Posts
My husband and I purchased our first home last month. We love it and the neighborhood except for one thing. We have a small creek in our front yard. A man lives on the other side who has at least 6 dogs. They bark all hours of the day and are extremely obnoxious.

I did some research on the City of Houston website and found that:

It is against the law to own more than three dogs over the age of six months in the City of Houston, unless you obtain a kennel license

I think I am going to call and file a complaint. Has anyone filed a complaint with the City on an animal issue? How responsive are they? Am I an ******* for reporting him?
 
try to work with him first. you're the new neighbor, don't start out like that.

would you be WRONG for complaining? no, but that doesn't mean you're RIGHT for complaining...if that makes sense.

always best to try and talk to the person you have a problem with first, IMO.
 
I am thinking I should not talk to the neighbor as I want to remain anonymous in the event that I do call the authorities.
 
well if you're not willing to even talk to the neighbor, then just file the complaint already. you're not really worried about being an ******* if you don't even want to discuss the situation with your neighbor.

i still think the best course of action is always a discussion with the neighbor. it may turn out great. maybe it turns out bad and you have to complain, but that leaves you right where you are now. either way, i think you'll feel better about yourself if you try to handle it in a neighborly fashion rather than notifying the authorities.
 
If it was one dog, there would be hope he could get the dog under control.

Six dogs is another story. Report it. Talking to the neighbor will only lead to more conflict.
 
I called animal control on a neighbor of mine one day. It was about 30 degrees out and sleeting, and their poor dog was left tied up in the backyard with no shelter. That dog lived every day of life back there tied up with no companionship. The man would go out every day and give the dog its food and put water in a bucket, but never spent any time at all with the poor thing.

So that cold day, I had had enough. I called animal control and gave the address, and 15 minutes later looked out and there was the AC agent. He check the situation and left a letter telling the man he'd better get shelter for that dog, and pronto.

The next day, the dog was moved to the other side of the backyard where it could get into a metal shed. Better than nothing, right? Our AC followed up, decided it was not good enough, and confiscated the dog. I heard through the local humane network grapevine that the dog had gotten a good home and was being well cared for.
 
You wouldn't happen to live at 1496 Fuller drive woudl you? If so, no worries, I will soon only have 4 dogs.
 
She will lure one of your dogs out of the yard and past its curfew, getting it into trouble and punished. It won't be allowed to go for walks. It's what she does.
 
The people who lived behind my family (weird people, too...) had these two ferocious dogs that would not stop barking. Several neighbors tried to talk to them about it, and nothing happened.

Somebody complained to the AC, and they gave the people the whole warning thing, blah, blah, blah. Everybody in the neighborhood had another couple of sleepless nights, and then one day the dogs got out. They attacked a small dog who was being walked, on a leash, and killed it.

The dogs were promptly reported again, and AC took the dogs. Then, not long after, the people moved away. Good riddance.

I know there is a huge difference between barking dogs and ferocious barking dogs, but still...if you don't think talking to your neighbor will do anything, by all means, report it.
 
I've found that most people that let their dogs bark excessively are not the type of people that are going to be receptive to a "neighborly discussion" about the problem. I had a woman that lived behind me at an old address of mine that had very loud barking dogs. She did nothing to control them and I finally got fed up. I knocked on her door one day to politely discuss the issue and she slammed the door in my face. The next time the dogs barked I called the cops. Another experience I had was with a jackass neigbhor that let his dogs bark all the time. I complained to him and would say he was going to do something but he never did.
 
Why don't you first talk to some of you other neighbors and see if they have had any problems? You'll probably find out if you are being unreasonalbe and if there is even a point of trying to talk to your neighbor with the dogs.
 
Anyone who has six dogs in the city is going to resent whoever is responsible for him having to get rid of some of them.

What is talking to him going to accomplish? Is he going to muzzle all six? Voluntarily get rid of three of em'?

I doubt it.

There's a law for a reason.
 
If it is after 10 PM call the police.

Not sure if the city of Houston will act on the complaint if the dog owner is not violating any other laws
 
Hello,
mr. foxyhorn here. My wife (should I call her mrs. bandrew) did not mention that this person is pretty crazy. We have talked to the neighbors about him and he apparently does really odd things like mowing the lawn at midnight on friday night. A couple of weeks ago he was riding his bike up and down the street at 11 pm and all of his dogs were chasing him barking like mad. He prob went up and down ten times. There are at least 6 dogs. The dogs are small, but they are little yappers that have VERY loud barks. They yelp and whine at a very high pitch also. They live outside constantly as far as we can tell.

The house in question is in very poor condition and is nothing short of an eyesore. There is trash littered all over his side of the creek and he has a carport covered with junk. The dogs live a little cyclone fence in cage underneath the carport. Our house is perpendicular to his, but on the other side of the creek so when we sit on our front porch we stare directly at the carport and driveway. Sometimes he lets the dogs just run around out of their cage. The dogs go nuts when he lets them out.

This really is the only negative in an otherwise awesome house that we love living in and plan on being in for many years to come. I do not trust that this person is mentally stable or will be friendly if we try and speak to him. I would not feel comfortable confronting him and I certainly don't think taking any action in person would be prudent.
 
while he is required to have a kennel license in order to keep more than three adult dogs, there are very few requirements for him to obtain such a license. basically, just a 50$ annual fee for the license and a distance of 100 feet from the nearest residence (not his own). whether he can meet these requirements or not, i dont think this is the path you want to pursue.

i think your best legal recourse lies under sec. 30-5 of the houston code of ordinances, which deals specifically with noisy animals. to wit:

The keeping of any animal or bird that causes or makes frequent or long and continued sound that unreasonably disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of ordinary, reasonable persons of normal sensibilities and ordinary tastes, habits, and modes of living who reside in the vicinity thereof is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful as a sound nuisance in violation of this chapter, regardless of whether the sound so created by said animal or bird is within the permissible levels specified in section 30-6 of this Code.

of course, someone might be more or less threatened by having the cops called on them, as opposed to barc. youve ruled out approaching this person yourself. is there a homeowners association that you can go through?
 
Or soak the same biscuits with weed killer. At least that way when the dogs go up and down the creek... they'll keep the grass & weeds down.

wink.gif
 
Unfortunately, foxyhorn already shot down my request to purchases a silenced sniper rifle and night vision scope.
wink.gif
 
no problem. i recall some municipalities (unfortunately houston is not one of them) have programs in place that take anonymous reports and send official letters to the violating dog owners. they then follow up on that with the tipster a few weeks later and if nothing has changed they send an officer out to observe.

cops dont always jump out of their chairs to respond to noise complaints. you may want to call barc and request something like this. their number is 713 229 7300

they might deny you, suggesting you call the police, but it wouldnt hurt to call. i know how touchy neighbor situations can be, and it sounds like you suspect this one is a powderkeg.
 
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