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A letter Challenging the Legality of Noisy Dog Kennels Kept in Residentially Zoned Neighborhoods

Introduction

As is the case most places, there is a state law in Florida that mandates that public officials who are working in zoning regulation must "interpret" the laws and regulations in a way that best protects the public health. There may very well be such a law on the books where you live as well. Those laws, which are aimed at the zoning establishment, have profound implications for the licensing of kennels in residential neighborhoods.

Although, historically, it has been the custom for zoning officials to issue permits for dog kennels in residential areas, once you show your local zoning officers the Harm section of this website and, thereby establish that noisy kennels are a public health hazard, at least in terms of legal theory, they will, thereafter, be obligated by legal mandate to come down on the side of the victimized neighbor whose health is being compromised, and against the person keeping the noisy kennel in a residential neighborhood.

If you have such a law in place in your state, and you very likely do, then, all you have to do is to inform the authorities that research has shown that the noise of a barking dog constitutes a health hazard. Once you have done that, that cinches it. Thereafter, you will know that your local authorities are obligated by law to either bring your barking problem to a speedy conclusion or see to it that the offending kennel is moved out of the neighborhood.

Below is a letter you can send to your local representatives demanding that they move to protect the health of you and yours as state law says they must. Of course, you will want to substitute your own state's law for the Florida statutes cited. Please feel free to adapt the letter in that or any other way necessary to make it suit your purposes.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Zoning Department,

After investigating the relevant legalities, I have concluded that your agency's decision to issue my neighbor a permit to build a "structure" for the "use" of maintaining dogs, clearly runs counter to state law.

Florida Statute 553.775 (1) states in part: "It is the intent of the Legislature that the Florida Building Code be interpreted by building officials, local enforcement agencies, and the commission in a manner that protects the public safety, health, and welfare ..... " See also Florida Statute 553.72

Therefore, according to the mandate of state law, your agency should "interpret" the ordinances relevant to the issuance of a "structure" for a dog kennel in a way that will serve to protect, "the public health."

Well clearly, the sound of barking dogs being force-fed into my home will constitute a definite health hazard. Please see the following web page for complete documentation: http://barkingdogs.net/exposeindex.shtml

According to City Codes found at http://www.municode.com/ --- the purpose of the zoning laws/ordinances is to promote ". . . the public safety, health, convenience, comfort, morals, prosperity and general welfare."

However, far from protecting the public health, you propose to issue a permit that will, quite literally, entitle my neighbor to degrade the health and well-being of me and mine, by way of chronic noise that will ring throughout our home for as far into the future as anyone can foresee.

The issuance of such a permit would clearly constitute the official sanctioning of a health hazard in a residential neighborhood, which, undeniably, violates the spirit of both state and local law.

The perils of noise were unknown when the present zoning laws were passed. But those dangers are well-established now. Again, see the following web page for complete documentation of the health hazard posed by chronic noise: http://barkingdogs.net/exposeindex.shtml

Therefore, the city has an ethical duty to change its laws, policies, practices, and procedures as necessary to remain in compliance with both the letter and the spirit of both state and municipal law, which clearly state that zoning regulators must think first of the public health, and give that priority over considerations related to property rights.

In light of that, I would like for someone in authority to answer all of the following questions.

Question One:
Does your agency recognize chronic noise as a pathogen that is known to degrade physical, social, and psychological health?

Question Two:
Do you acknowledge that the sound of barking dogs being force-fed into one's home does, indeed, constitute a health hazard?

Question Three:
The extent of the noise blasting into my home from my neighbor's kennel is well documented. Is it your intention, nonetheless, to permit the kennels to remain in place and/or to be built, despite the fact that you now know that they do, indeed, constitute a health hazard?

I look forward to your answers.

Respectfully submitted,

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This page is part of Section Three:
the Law section of barkingdogs.net