BarkingDogs.net

Turning to the Law for Help with Your Neighbor's Barking Dog

How your local government created your legal problem three times over
Before you begin studying the other links on this page, which are dedicated to helping you address your barking related legal problem, you might first want to take a second to read this short page that tells you how your local government took a problem that could have been easily prevented and could still be quickly corrected, and turned it into the intractable legal nightmare that you now face.

A nutshell description of the most common types of barking laws.
This section provides a quick overview of the Multiple Household laws and the Consecutive Disruption Ordinances, which are the most common types of "anti-barking" laws.

The barking laws, law enforcement, and the courts
In this section you'll learn in detail about the barking laws and your chances of getting the authorities to enforce them. You'll also find here a realistic depiction of your odds for litigating successfully, if you attempt to resolve your barking problem through the civil court.

Seeking relief through the civil courts
This section will be of interest to those who have read about their other options, who are now giving serious thought to seeking a legal solution to their barking problem. It will tell you what kind of lawyer you need, where to find him, and how to go about enlisting his assistance. It also describes a couple through-the-court options you might want to pursue that will not require the assistance of an attorney. In addition, it discusses restraining orders and tells you how to go about requesting one. Finally, it explains how the courts are divided up and tells you in which section you will be best advised to litigate.

Proving your case in court
This page will tell you what you need to know about proving your case in court, including the basics of how to make audio and video recordings, as well as the ins and outs of eyewitness testimony and Paper and pencil data gathering.

The number one pitfall should you decide to litigate
In virtually every court case involving noise, especially those centering around barking dogs, there comes a crisis point where either you are going to have to give your noisy neighbor written permission to forcibly project noise into your home, or your attorney is going to have to stare down a hostile judge and find a way to tell the man that everything he thinks he knows about noise is wrong. Discussing the crisis point with your attorney early in the relationship can make the difference between seeing your family protected and seeing them forced to live with a dangerous pathogen for many years to come.

A conversation with an attorney who specializes in animal related legal issues
The material in this section was obtained in an interview with an attorney from the United States who has extensive experience litigating barking dog cases. It covers everything you need to know about taking legal action against the dog owner through the civil courts, including your legal options, what kind of attorney you need, what you should expect to pay, what you might have to gain, how you can prepare for court, and the pitfalls that must be avoided if you are to be successful.

A Model Anti-Barking Law
It is possible for a barking law to be effective, fair, and readily enforceable. This link will take you to a page that describes a model barking law that we at barkingdogs.net believe will prove to be all three.

Good news: That noisy kennel next door may well be against the law
You may be pleased to learn that because the noisy kennel being kept by your next door neighbor is a health hazard, it may well be illegal. This link will take you to a sample letter that can serve as a model for your own correspondence, should you decide to press the matter with your local authorities.

The Law Library of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse
This website lists noise regulations and ordinances for many cities, counties, and towns located throughout the United States.

United States federal and state laws
This link will take you to a website where you can look up U.S. federal laws as well as laws, cases, codes, statutes and regulations for all fifty states.

The National Library of Australia
This link will take you to a website that will give you online access to the laws governing the states and territories of the Commonwealth of Australia

The Law Library of Congress - Australia
This link will take you to a central page from which you can access a great variety of data bases related to Australian law.

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